We all know about the horrors of Black Friday – mobs of shoppers, endless spam and gluing ourselves to our phones to get that one sweet deal. Now people are talking about the hidden environmental cost too. It’s estimated that online shopping on Black Friday alone could result in 429,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions – that’s like 300 million wasted litres of milk, or almost 200 million wasted steaks.
Green Friday is a growing movement for more conscious shopping choices
If, like us, this mass consumerism is hard to stomach, you’ve probably already come across and maybe even taken part in Green Friday. It’s a growing movement of citizens using the day to celebrate steps towards a better world. Some choose to make more conscious shopping choices, some take time to connect with nature and community. Which is exactly what Food Works stands for – so we’re all in, and we’ve come up with a couple of ideas for you.
1. Choose green this festive season
Green Friday is a great time to think about going green with your seasonal shopping. Over four million Christmas dinners are thrown away each year, say the experts, whilst people spend more than £100 extra on food alone at this time of year.
One solution? Use as much of this surplus food as possible – and you can turn to Food Works for help with this. We repurpose food that would otherwise be wasted into easy, ethical and affordable gifts, perfect for eco-conscious foodies. Choose from either a Festive Food for All hamper which feature a selection of surplus food and goodies fit for the festive season for £15, or a gift subscription for a Food Works Patron Box. You can choose between four boxes (£30) or thirteen boxes (£100). All our products have the opportunity to pay it forwards too, so you can contribute more at the checkout if you are able to, as a way of supporting better food.
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And if you’re looking for ways to give back this festive season, you can also become a Food Works supporter with a minimum monthly contribution of £1, or give a one-off amount to support our work.
Contribute here
These are all a great way to save food from going to waste and divert some of that humongous Black Friday spend towards things that actually reduce your carbon footprint rather than increase it. You can also use them to introduce friends and family to the Food Works community and the critical work going on every day to help make food better for everyone in Sheffield.
2. Choose connection and community
If your ideal Green Friday choice is to spend time in nature or community and ditch the shopping altogether, why not invite a friend or family member to apply as a volunteer – and commit to spending the odd morning or afternoon together in our farm, warehouse or kitchens?
You can find connection by joining the Food Works community, too – we keep you updated on opportunities to get involved and share insights from our work to make food better for everyone in Sheffield. It’s a great way to make food a conversation starter with friends and family.
Whether you choose to shop green, or give time back to your community, celebrating Green Friday with Food Works is a choice to:
- Share as well as consume food
- Help the environment as well as reduce the harm
- Build a movement for change rather than privatised profits
- Give power to your local community, not global corporations
- Get people talking about what good food really means
- Helping people to find connection in a world dominated by competition
Both the hamper and the gift subscription come with a thank you note from the whole Food Works team telling them about the difference this makes to people in Sheffield.
Please take this opportunity to share the Food Works story with your friends and family, and experience a feel-good, do-good Green Friday this year.
