Every November, a familiar wave rolls in: inboxes flood, ads blink furiously, countdown timers tick. Black Friday arrives like clockwork, and with it comes the pressure to buy more, and fast.

Retailers slash prices, consumers scramble, and the result is a predictable surge in sales. In 2022, U.S. shoppers spent over $9.1 billion online during Black Friday alone. And globally, the fashion industry sees a huge spike in production and turnover during this period.

Source: Bloomberg

But beneath the deals and discounts lies a deeper cost—one we don’t often see at checkout. Behind every pair of cheaply made sneakers is a trail of resource extraction, carbon emissions, labour exploitation, and ultimately, landfill waste.

Fast Fashion's Footprint: Why Footwear Matters

When we talk about sustainability in fashion, footwear is often left out of the spotlight. Yet shoes have an enormous environmental footprint. According to a 2018 Quantis report on fashion and sustainability:

The average pair of running shoes ganerate 13.6 kg of CO₂ emissions—equivalent to keeping a 100-watt light bulb on for a week.

Multiply that by the millions of pairs produced and discarded each year, and the numbers become staggering. Shoes are also particularly difficult to recycle due to their complex mix of materials: rubber, leather, glue, plastics, foam, and synthetic textiles. Most end up in landfills, where they can take 30–40 years to decompose.

And during Black Friday? The spike in demand drives overproduction, underpriced labour, and throwaway buying behaviours. Many consumers end up purchasing footwear that wears out quickly or wasn’t needed in the first place.

Conscious Consumption Isn’t About Saying “No” to Everything

Let’s be honest: it's unrealistic (and unhelpful) to tell people to boycott Black Friday entirely. For many, this time of year is a rare chance to afford something they've been needing or saving up for.

So the point isn’t to shame anyone for shopping, it’s to shift how we shop.

Being sustainable doesn’t mean sitting out the season. It means approaching it with intention instead of impulse. Before clicking “Buy Now”, ask:

• Do I need this, or am I reacting to a time-limited deal?

• Is this product built to last?

• Do I know anything about how it was made or who made it?

5 Simple Ways to Participate Responsibly

If you’re planning to make a purchase this season, there are ways to do it better. Here are five low-effort, high-impact options that help reduce waste while still letting you enjoy the moment:

1. Buy Pre-Owned or Vintage

Footwear platforms like Vinted offer gently used shoes at lower prices, often barely worn. Buying secondhand keeps items in circulation longer and diverts waste from landfills.

2. Support Sustainable Footwear Brands

Many brands are designing with circularity, ethics, and innovation in mind. Some examples worth exploring:

Thousand Fell: closed-loop, recyclable sneakers

Allbirds: carbon-neutral, natural materials

VEJA: fair-trade sourcing, low-impact materials

You can find more brands HERE!

3. Look for Certified Products

If you’re unsure whether a brand walks the talk, look for certifications like:

• B Corp

• Fair Trade

• Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS)

• Leather Working Group (LWG)

These signals aren’t perfect, but they’re helpful indicators of accountability.

4. Repair Before You Replace

Sometimes, a sole replacement or a professional clean is all you need. Shoe repair is not a lost art; it’s a climate action.

5. Wait 48 Hours

Impulse is the engine of Black Friday. If you can delay a purchase by even two days, you’re far more likely to buy only what you truly want or need.

A Culture of “More” Isn’t Sustainable. A Culture of “Enough” Is.

Black Friday is a symptom of a broader problem: our culture’s obsession with more. More discounts. More stuff. More speed.

But sustainability invites us to imagine a different relationship to consumption—one that values quality over quantity, and care over convenience. That shift doesn't require perfection. It just requires a pause.

Buying a thoughtfully made, long-lasting pair of shoes instead of three fast-fashion ones? That matters. Choosing secondhand over brand-new? That matters. Waiting a few days to decide instead of buying in a rush? That matters too.

You’re Not Powerless in the Flood

Black Friday might feel overwhelming. But your individual choices, especially in aggregate, have weight. You don’t have to say “no” to everything. Just say “yes” more deliberately.

Because Black Friday doesn’t have to mean more waste.

It can mean something else entirely:

Intention. Awareness. And the beginning of a better way to walk forward.