Friday, March 29, 2024

Black Friday, Cyber Monday craze

By Rocco Golden

Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping has become an integral part of many peoples’ lives. Shopping has become tradition as more people spend every year to get the best deals.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals have never been more important to people. As the cost of everything goes up, being able to spend less and save more is a must for many families throughout the country.

Having great deals is not good for only businesses, it’s also good for the consumers. All businesses, small or large, see benefits from the days of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and even Small Business Saturday. Since these shopping days are a tradition for most, it’s guaranteed business. 

Small business owners are without a doubt some of the hardest hit by nationwide problems such as COVID-19 or inflation. Having a week to get some boosted profit and business is becoming more of a necessity in order to stay afloat. With the modern economy being as unpredictable as it is, small businesses will need a lot of support.

The generic consumer also benefits a lot from deals. As previously stated, the cost of living, food, electricity, water and everything else is going up. People just don’t have as much money to spend on goods and services. While the main incentive of Black Friday and Cyber Monday is more behind businesses making more money, there are still many great deals for the consumer to jump on.

The holiday season is a time to relax and celebrate. One of the biggest acts during this time is bringing joy to your loved ones. One of the best ways to bring joy is gifts. With that being said, gifts are expensive and add up over time. Having the incentive to go shopping and spend some money on good deals is a lifesaver for many people who need to save money during the holiday season.

There are certainly some cons to the widespread consumerism but not on the economic side though. The chaos associated with people on Black Friday isn’t as true as it used to be. Black Friday, in most places, is still crowded, but a few places will get bad when it comes to people in the store. With a sizable amount of people switching to more online shopping, especially over the past few years, going out to shop on Black Friday is more of an enjoyable thing to do. 

With more products being bought and consumed every year, therein lies a lot more waste to deal with. According to an article by PHYS.org, an online science, research, and technology news source sponsored by Science X, over 80% of goods bought on Black Friday end up in a landfill, incinerated or poorly recycled. What many will say is that Black Friday traditions should end, that it’s bad for the environment or that more goods need to be recycled. 

Recycling has always been seen as a great alternative to throwing things away. On paper that is certainly true, but what many may not know is that a lot of recycling isn’t actually worth it. Plastic is most often the largest culprit and the scapegoat for why people should recycle. Surprisingly, recycling plastic is not worth it at all. According to an article by Insider, 9% of plastic used is actually recycled. A lot of the recycled plastic products are never in demand. Products such as furniture and grocery bags are great ideas, but many end up preferring real furniture instead. 

In the case of plastic bags, there have been attempts to ban them by the government for years and in New York have been banned and are gradually fading out. Recycling plastic ends up becoming a burden rather than a benefit, and what benefits do exist, for the environment and greenhouse gas emissions, are very little. If the climate issues projected for the future hold up, people would need to do much more than just recycling plastic.

As close to redundant as recycling plastic is, there are some products that are worth recycling. Recycling metal products and glass is always seen as a good thing. The problem is that many countries around the world, the United States included, lack the required infrastructure to make recycling effective. 

For example, in many rural areas there are no local recycling plants for products to go. Instead, the products need to be collected and then transported to another location, which defeats the purpose in trying to reduce emissions. There comes a point where recycling is more about sending a message than it is about practicality. All that needs to be done is good policy, and of course a lot more spending.

Everything about recycling isn’t bad. Recycling aluminum products is good for a lot of reasons. First, using recycled aluminum takes much less energy. According to an article by Do Recycling, an online blog, aluminum recycling can save up to 95% of energy use, which can account for millions of tons of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. 

As gloomy as recycling, Black Friday and the environment can be, it’s important to stay positive, especially during this time of year. Many people lack enjoyment in their lives, so being able to spread positivity through actions is something that is always worth doing. Spreading joy during the holidays is easy, and it can leave lasting impressions and make peoples’ days.

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