Choose to have a green week and not a black one
This week starts the infamous “Black Week”, and a lot of people will buy products they don't need. We will not participate in Black Friday or Black Week and encourage all of you to ask yourself these questions before buying something on sale:
- Do I really need this product?
- Can I buy it locally and support a small business?
- Would I be willing to pay the full price for it? If not, why do I want it?
The Five R-s
You may have heard about the “Five Rs” before, which is broadly used within the Zero Waste movement (1). At BRGN we have built our sustainability-vision on a similar list, and our 5 Rs are:
Reduce, Refuse, Repair, Recycle and Reuse.
Read more about sustainability in BRGN and the 5 Rs here.
Black Friday in Norway
The Black Friday-trend started in Norway in 2009 (2,3), and even though we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving it kept growing and expanding to Black Week and even Black Month in certain fields. In 2021 Virke, The Federation of Norwegian Enterprise, estimates that we will spend 16,5 billion Norwegian Kroners during Black Week. (4)
We prioritize the worker’s rights
At BRGN we prioritize worker’s rights throughout whole supply chain. To ensure that every person involved in creating a BRGN product are compensated within industry standards or above, we will never put our products on sale. We do not compromise on quality or price.
According to senior lecturer at the University in Lincoln (UK) Victoria Bellandini, it is not possible to create cheap clothing without violating the worker’s rights. (5). Jarle Hammerstad, director of policy at Virke, warns that two out of three products sold outside of the European market does not meet the requirements of occupational safety and health. (6)
Choose to have a green week and not a black one
Black Week is a tradition we as a company cannot stand behind, as it encourages overconsumption and crushes small businesses.We hope you reflect on the questions at the start of this article. We wish to emphasise that we are not trying to “shame” anyone with this post, but to explain why we as a company will not participate in this new tradition.
Sources:
1: https://www.unsustainablemagazine.com/the-5-rs-of-zero-waste-living/
2: https://blackfridaynorge.com/nar-kom-black-friday-forst-til-norge/
3: https://www.vg.no/annonsorinnhold/smart/komplett/113-historien-om-black-friday-slik-kom-den-store-shoppingdagen-til-norge
4: https://kampanje.com/markedsforing/2021/11/virke-venter-noe-nedgang-for-black-week/
5: https://www.nrk.no/urix/rapport_-flere-arbeidere-i-kles-suksess-jobber-triple-skift-1.15728919
6: https://www.nettavisen.no/okonomi/na-dropper-flere-butikker-black-friday-dette-er-arsaken/s/12-95-3424206459