Keep Britain Tidy boss urges people across the country to go green this Black Friday

Keep Britain Tidy has issued a plea to people to save their pennies - and the planet - this Black Friday after England sent waste weighing the equivalent of 10,500 Boeing cargo jets to landfill in one year. *   

 

It comes as new research by YouGov, on behalf of the charity, reveals 62% of adults in the UK are concerned about the impact of their purchases on the environment.

 

Black Friday alone is estimated to be responsible for the release of around 400,000 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, according to research by Leeds University** – yet around 80% of people’s impulse purchases will eventually end up as landfill waste***.

 

Government figures**** show in 2021/22, local authorities in England had to send more than 2.1 million tonnes of waste to landfill - that’s the equivalent of roughly 10,500 Boeing Dreamlifter cargo jets.

 

A further 12,393,250 (12.4 million) tonnes was incinerated and 10,840,020 (10.8 million) tonnes - less than half (41.5%) of the country’s total waste - was recycled or composted.  

 

Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive Allison Ogden-Newton OBE said: “These shocking figures reveal the stark truth that if we are to bring our resource use and carbon emissions down to environmentally sustainable levels we need to understand that the things we buy last forever.

 

“It’s alarming to think that around 80% of items bought on Black Friday are thrown away after a few uses, and some are binned without being used at all.”

 

In January, the charity will launch a campaign to highlight how small changes to our buying habits can help protect our future. Award-winning campaign Buy Nothing New Month (January 1 to 31) will encourage people in England to save their pennies - and the planet - by not buying any new goods, apart from essentials like food and medicine.

 

You can sign up at: www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/support-our-campaigns/buy-nothing-new-month

 

Those who sign up will receive tips to use throughout January and beyond on how to live more sustainably and will join thousands of others in making a difference.

 

Buy Nothing New Month is run by Keep Britain Tidy and supported by our partner Olio, the local sharing app where people can find or share items with others living nearby.

 

 

*Weight of Stuff.com: https://weightofstuff.com/7-things-that-weigh-200-tons/

**Based on research by Leeds University: https://science.thewire.in/environment/black-friday-sale-environmental-impact/

***Based on research by Leeds University: https://www.leeds.ac.uk/news/article/4510/most_black_friday_purchases_soon_end_up_as_waste

****https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/local-authority-collected-waste...