Green November 2021

Green November 2021

30 Jan 2023

Hold your wig, it's time to celebrate Green November again!

What is Green November? We are counteracting these Black Friday “limited-time deals”, as they only encourage overconsumption and mindless consumption. These limited time deals only decrease the limited time we have left to make a change.


So because we can’t stop mindless consumption but WE can choose to consume consciously. We are offering 15% off ALL month on ALL products, so there’s no need to rush and for every €1 you spend, we contribute to Climeworks who remove 1 kg of CO₂ from the air.

 

Carbon Capture Initiative - Climeworks

Throughout the year we plant a tree every time someone purchases from our marketplace. It doesn’t cost you anything extra. We like trees and they are important. You can read more about this initiative here.

We also want to take the extra step, so for Green November we will be working with Climeworks to help capture even more carbon from the atmosphere.

Who are Climeworks?

Climeworks was founded in 2009 with a mission to develop, build and operate direct air capture (DAC) technology. Essentially they remove CO₂ directly from the atmosphere and store it safely underground and reduce the harmful CO₂ in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Unless you are an engineer, Climeworks and their DAC technologies can seem a bit confusing (well we thought that at least!), so we will break it down for you.

So how does it work?

Air is drawn into a collector with a fan, and CO₂ is captured on a filter. To take out the CO₂, the collector is heated so the CO₂ is released and then it’s stored underground, permanently.

Why DAC?
The climate crisis isn’t getting any better, so more needs to be done and at a faster pace. DAC plants allow for CO₂ to be stored permanently underground and at a faster rate than planting trees. The benefits of DAC technologies are seen below on this Carbon Dioxide Removal comparison chart.

Why Climeworks'?

Climeworks’ technology is solely powered by renewable energy and uses much less water and requires much less land than other CO₂ removal solutions, making it a truly sustainable choice for reversing climate change.

Click here for a video to explain more about the DAC technology or here to read the interview with Céline Olesen, the Senior Manager in Corporate Partnerships at Climeworks.

Why we want to turn Black Friday Green

Black Friday is a holiday which is dedicated to overconsumption and increasing mindless consumption. Another year has gone by, and not much has changed.

Businesses take advantage of Black Friday, they lure customers in with these exceptionally low deals and force consumers to buy as much as they can on this one day. It has become a scary concept that customers are physically fighting over products, is it Black Friday or a zombie apocalypse?

This is not attacking those families or individuals who aren’t as fortunate as others and rely on these deals to be able to get new kitchen supplies which are essential for them. Or if you have been eyeing up an item but it's out of your price range, sure get it. These are both conscious decisions. This message is for those people who see Black Friday as a day or month to buy as much stuff as they can just because of the low price, not because this item is a necessity for them. It’s for those brands who are creating “Black Friday Survival Guides”, which is only encouraging mindless consumption and tempting consumers to buy even more.

Money.co.uk (a UK price-comparison website) estimated that in 2020 home deliveries during Black Friday will release 429,000 metric tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions. That is the equivalent of 435 return flights from London to New York.

Last year total digital sales for Cyber Week reached $270 billion globally and $60 billion in the U.S. The question we want answered is how many of these purchases are being used today? Or are they sent to landfill or hidden away in a box, not being used anytime soon.

Why we should be scared of increased online sales

As we know the pandemic caused an increase in online sales as people were made to stay home. But did you think about the cost that was having on the environment?

GreenStory’s studies researched that 6-8% of clothing items are returned when purchased from a physical store, compared to 30% of online orders. The environmental cost of returning goods is not highlighted, returning an item means that products need to travel even further to be checked, processed and repacked. This is just increasing the environmental footprint of that product. Not to mention that 20% of products that are returned are sent to landfill as they are not able to be sold again. This is something to be concerned about due to the increase in online shopping during Black Friday sales.

We just want to highlight the threat we face for this year's Black Friday sales. With Black Friday increasing mindless consumption and overconsumption and with more people shopping online for Black Friday, which leads to more returns. Just think to yourself, is it really worth it?

 

Join us for Green November, turning Black Friday Green

With Green November we want to award you for making a more conscious decision. No need to wake up early. No need to make a quick decision that you might regret later.

You have an entire month to consider whether something we sell is something you want. If not, that’s fine. If so, then you also get to help us capture carbon directly from the atmosphere.

We hope you will participate in Green November 2021 with us. Use #GreenNovember to share ideas on how to make an even bigger impact, and look out for our carbon-saving tips on our socials throughout the month.

And if you own a company and would like two participate - hit us up. We’d love to share with you how we instantly capture carbon with Climeworks.

Shop our sustainable products while being mindful of the planet!

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