Most weeks I ‘Thank God it’s Friday’, but not this one. We’re approaching that time of year when the jangles start jingling and supermarkets turn into jungles of tinsel tat. But hold on to your trolleys, before we start our yearly ponderings on the 'true meaning of Christmas', we have to make it through the quagmire of Black Friday’s frenzy of overconsumption and inequality.
I've had enough of plastic waste, the catwalk of items glammed up with extra packaging and supposedly 'mega' discounts all ultimately destined for landfill. I’m calling for a rebrand – a Black Friday Fast, if you will. The time has come to resist the deception of discount promises pushing us to desire mass-produced items that are beyond our collective basic needs. We can’t ignore that Black Friday is overstretching the planet’s finite resources and contributing to the climate crisis.
Instead of heading to the cathedral of consumerism, I’m choosing another path. One that focuses on balanced lifestyle choices that don’t compromise my desire to live in harmony with creation. Consumerism wants me to rush out and buy, and ignore that fast fashion is responsible for more carbon emissions than aviation and shipping combined. My resistance is to pause, to enact a kind of sabbath. Instead of shopping till I drop, I’m dropping to my knees and praying for world leaders who next week meet at the United Nations climate conference in Dubai to address the brokenness of earth’s life support systems and the inequality that drives it.
