Shop, Never Stop, this Black Friday?
In a circular economy, less is more.
By Ola Bąkowska, Project Manager, Circle Textiles Programme
“Shop. Never Stop.” So says the Christmas lights installation hanging over the Kalverstraat — the busiest shopping street in Amsterdam; one that appeared overnight and now shines a bright — but really, dim — light onto my coworker’s living room.
How did a Londoner and sustainable fashion advocate like me come across it? I recently moved to Amsterdam to join an impact-driven organisation that creates tools to accelerate the transition into a circular economy– in other words, to save the world, and save myself from London in the process. Rather than a candlelight dinner, my new team and I enjoyed a first meal together under the auspices of this sign, its bright — dim — light shining straight onto our plates… A great conversation starter for environmentalists, to say the least!
At a time when London’s Carnaby street collaborates with ocean conservation charity Project Zero for their 2019 Christmas installation, and Paris’ Champs-Elysees uses energy-efficient Christmas lights to minimise its ecological impact, Amsterdam — capital city of a country that aims to create a fully circular economy by 2050 — urges its residents and visitors to never stop shopping. So what gives?
This piece evolved from a place of frustration but is packed with good news and hope, and, ultimately, invites you to consider how we can enjoy the holidays without ruining the world.
Mass consumption in the year of awakening
McKinsey and Business of Fashion called 2019 a year of awakening for the fashion industry. 2019 kicked off right after the Fashion Industry Charter launched at COP24 in December 2018, and saw the Fashion Pact, which aims to align the industry with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, launched ahead of the G7 summit in August.
But the facts remain that multinational, top-level commitments take a long time before they effectively translate into everyday experiences for the majority.
Unsurprisingly, one of the everyday experiences we have come to cherish most as a society is shopping– specifically, as I am writing this in November, Black Friday, early Christmas, mid-season, call-it-what-you-will shopping.
Historically a sales day following Thanksgiving and marking the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in the US, Black Friday has been successfully exported to most of Western Europe, with sales reaching $717.5 billion in 2018 in the US and over $9 billion in the UK alone.
In fact, Black Friday sales grew steadily on a yearly basis, until the 2008 crisis, when this vast expression of consumerism was usurped by yet another shopping day. In 2009, the Alibaba Group launched ‘Singles Day’ in China — a celebration of single people, to occur annually on November 11th — in partnership with only 27 retailers at the time. Fast forward to 2019, and November 11th marked the ‘biggest shopping day on the planet’, hitting record sales of $38.4 billion with 200 000 participating brands, and boosted by international pop culture icons like Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift.
And while Alibaba has since also set up 75,000 packaging recycling stations across China, — arguably in response to the waste they are responsible for themselves — in the year brands and retailers were expected to take an active stance on social issues and satisfy consumer demands for sustainability, these facts are a startling reminder that we have yet to question how much we produce and consume as the first step towards a truly circular and sustainable economy.
Why less is more in a circular economy
Circular solutions can successfully tackle pre- and post-consumer waste and make the most out of the resources we have, but with growing consumption levels and record high population growth, this progress might not be fast enough, according to the latest Circularity Gap Report. Consumers clearly demand change from the fashion industry, but it takes too long to improve its social and environmental performance to counterbalance its rapid growth.
Before optimising the resources we do use, a circular economy first calls for a slowing down of production and consumption. Before asking ‘how can we make the next t-shirt more resource-effective?’, we must first ask: ‘do we need the next t-shirt in the first place?’ and if so, how do we design and produce this t-shirt for its appropriate lifecycle.
A new era: how brands and consumers are making the holiday season more circular
In the aftermath of Patagonia’s famous “Don’t Buy This Jacket” campaign, more and more bottom up initiatives are letting marketing executives and retail giants know that a new era is upon us; one where ‘more’ may no longer spark joy and where experiences trump possessions. And it seems like some brands are listening!
In the UK, where “Black Friday has become a frenzy for brands and consumers”, Eco-Age and Global Fashion Exchange are asking to
#TakeBackBlackFriday: a call on citizens to slow down consumption and host awareness-raising events in their communities. “Our consumption habits are already taking a toll with increased emissions, increased land-use and deforestation, which is accelerating climate change.” explains Patrick Duffy, founder of Global Fashion Exchange.
Somewhere in-between Buy Nothing Day and buy-everything Black Friday is White Monday: founded in 2017 in Sweden by the circular clothing repair start-up Repamera AB, the initiative promotes buying second-hand, refurbished, repaired, recycled or upcycled as a first choice, and has grown from 6+ million Swedes in 2017, to 25+ million people engaged in 2018, reaching 7 countries in 2019.
An outdoor brand, and cooperative, REI for the 5th year now is closed down on Black Friday for an #OptOutside campaign encouraging its employees and consumers to join an organized environmental cleanup effort. Another young and daring brand ASKET also closed down on the day last year to open a repair café instead.
In France, responsible brand Faguo just launched the Make Friday Green Again collective, alongside 80 other brands, to offer consumers an opportunity to sell or recycle unworn clothing.
All these noticeable shifts confirm that sustainability is the biggest challenge and opportunity for the fashion industry, well explored by innovators and early adopters in this field. Circular business models and engaging experiences over products are also a consequence of that. Some brands are already making an effort, training employees in sustainable and circular design, piloting alternative ownership models, but “many of the solutions currently in the works do not go deep enough to address the root of the problem: the need to make and consume less”.
A garment is for life, not just for Christmas
The holidays are a time for us to connect with those we love and demonstrate our love to them. We’ve traditionally relied on gifts to do so, but just like the circular economy advocates for decoupling growth from environmental degradation, so too should we decouple joy, meaning, and connectedness from material ownership and overconsumption.
How will you be making this holiday season circular?
Circle Economy helps brands tap into circular economy opportunities. Learn more about the textiles programme here.
