Black Friday Shopping: Two Sides of the Coin

At 5 a.m. after the beloved food-based November holiday, most people seem to prefer to nurse their food coma at home, tucked warm in bed. But for some, the ideal morning-after-Thanksgiving situation is braving the cold outside the nearest mall, Best Buy, or favorite retail store. Black Friday is a concept where stores sell many products for an intensely lower price than they would normally be available for. On one hand, Black Friday presents opportunities for quality family time and affordability, making hot ticket items more accessible. However, with overconsumption at an all time high, Black Friday has many environmental implications to be considered.

Jamie Kollman is a junior at UWM who has created her own major and spent a lot of time engaging with environmental activism, learning about human impact, fast fashion, and policy. 

 “I created an interdisciplinary major called Environmental Ethics, Policy, and Science. It’s a mix of conservation and environmental science, geography, and philosophy. I wanted a major that was slightly more of a social science in application but with a basic natural science foundation,” says Kollman. “Basically I wanted to major in ‘environmentally friendly.’ This was the closest I could get at UWM.”

For Kollman, the concept of Black Friday has both positive and negative implications. There’s accessibility, but also iterations of capitalism and consumerism.

“I think it is truly the capitalist holiday, it’s almost silly to me. But I also realize that it’s really useful. If there’s something you’ve really been needing but can’t afford it at its normal price, waiting for it to go on sale for significantly less on Black Friday is an option, and one that some people rely on,” says Kollman. “I don’t really participate in it now. I know most people use it for buying appliances and Christmas gifts, which I do honestly think is smart. And I understand the appeal of it. Yes, everyone likes when things are cheaper. I do, too. However, our current consumer habits in America at least are getting so inconveniently convenient, and trends on TikTok are getting so niche and short-lived, with new ones coming out almost every month. Black Friday and maybe even more relevant, Cyber Monday, are facilitating the disposability of it all.”

Considering environmental implications is a large scale problem that highlights consumerism and how trends can contribute to waste on a global scale. “The United States’ consumerism habits are so mindless and we already are very affluent. I would say the impact is overwhelmingly negative. When I think Black Friday, I just think of all the congestion in stores, on the roads, and then I think about all the packaging that’s used and thrown out of whatever people buy, and I think of how crazy people get over certain products. You really learn who is in fact a die-hard materialist,” says Kollman. “Consumerism has a direct impact on our environment. Not even just from pollution and garbage/waste, but because suppliers respond to demand. What are we demanding? What do our demands require? Resources will always be consumed. What do our demands say about the way we consume them?” 

On the other hand, Black Friday can encourage familiar bonding and an opportunity for necessities. Juan-Jose Rodriguez-Mora is a UWM student who has participated in Black Friday throughout his life as an enjoyable holiday that allows for family time in a way that feels productive. “I participate because I want to use it as an excuse to hang out with friends and family. I buy things, but I buy things that I need, not things that I want. In one group I go with my four cousins and in the other group I go with my two other friends,” says Rodriguez-Mora. “The time to hang out with friends and family makes it worth it for me. I tend to buy clothing and if I see anything that I need such as electronics I will purchase what I need. But clothing is my main go-to.” 

For Rodriguez-Mora, Black Friday has a lot of positive memories that make the holiday something to be thought of fondly. “I remember my two friends told me we were hanging out for a few hours, but they lied, and suddenly, we were hanging out all night and going shopping so that was fun. The other memory is with my cousins, and we were having dinner at one of our houses, then we decided to go shopping the next morning for Black Friday. So it was planned last minute and it was fun,” says  Rodriguez-Mora. “I would say it has had its ups and downs. They decide to go with the sales but at the end of the day, some are not even worth the purchase at times.” 

On both sides of the Black Friday debate, there are options for sustainability. “Shopping sustainably is attainable, and no one is perfect! Brands I recommend include Brightly.eco https://brightly.eco/ , Ethique https://ethique.com/, Marine Layer https://www.marinelayer.com/ ,” says Kollman. “We are now seeing the costs of unethical consumption of things like fast fashion, fast furniture, garbage from Temu and Amazon, cheap products that are designed with planned obsolescence.”

Black Friday encourages both accessibility and overconsumption. “Black Friday, again, is sometimes the most affordable option for a lot of people. I totally understand waiting to buy something until it goes on sale for significantly less. The problem lies not in consumption itself. I sincerely think the problem is moreso in our consumerism habits, which I think Black Friday is the absurd epitome of. I think a solution is to be more mindful about your own consumerism habits. Not just by thinking about what you buy, but how often and from where,” says Kollman. “Your dollar is your vote to the kind of world you want. The average person, the consumer, has so much more power than we realize.”