The hidden climate cost of Black Friday: Why bargain hunting isn't always a deal for the planet.

Black Friday has become a global phenomenon- an annual rush of discounts, flash sales, and frenzied scrolling that kicks off the holiday shopping season. For many shoppers, it’s an opportunity to save money. For retailers, it’s a revenue surge. But for the planet, Black Friday comes with a hefty environmental price tag that often goes unnoticed.

At Notch, we talk a lot about consumption, carbon footprints, and how our choices shape the world around us. So it’s worth pausing to look behind the bargain bins and two-day shipping promises to understand the true climate impact of Black Friday.

1. Overconsumption Creates Massive Waste

Black Friday encourages buying for the sake of buying. A staggering portion of discounted products, especially electronics, fast fashion, and gimmicky impulse buys,are rarely used for long. Many end up:

• Returned (only to be thrown away): Roughly 30–40% of online purchases are returned, and many retailers discard instead of restocking due to labor costs and damaged packaging.
• Landfilled quickly: Low-cost goods are often lower quality, reducing their lifespan and increasing waste.
• Packaged excessively: Every individual purchase has packaging, plastic, mixed materials, foams, that is rarely recycled.

It’s a cycle of “buy, use briefly, bin,” and the environmental footprint is enormous.

2. Shipping Frenzy = Sky-High Logistics Emissions

Black Friday isn’t just about buying more, it’s about getting it fast.

The convenience of next-day or two-day delivery requires logistics systems to operate in overdrive. That includes:

• Trucks routed inefficiently to meet deadlines
• Under-filled vans departing early
• Increased air freight for urgent deliveries
• Reverse logistics for returns (which often travel thousands of miles)

All of these steps burn fuel and create avoidable carbon emissions. In fact, the delivery surge during Black Friday week can increase transportation emissions by up to 30% in some markets.

3. Warehousing and Data Centres Use Huge Amounts of Energy

The digital side of Black Friday feels invisible, but it isn’t impact-free.

Behind every cart update, product search, or “order confirmed” ping are data centres and cloud systems running at massive scale.

During major sale periods:

• Web traffic spikes sharply
• Inventory management and payment systems work at maximum load
• Retailers increase compute capacity, meaning more servers, more cooling, more electricity

Warehouses also run nearly nonstop: conveyor belts, sorting machines, robotics, and lighting all demand energy, often from fossil-fuel-dominated grids.

4. Cheap Goods Depend on Carbon-Heavy Supply Chains

Many Black Friday products rely on globalized manufacturing- fast fashion, plastics, electronics- produced in energy-intensive facilities.

Discounts often reflect:

• Cheap materials with high carbon footprints
• Long-distance shipping before they even reach the retailer
• Labor systems that prioritize speed over sustainability

When the true cost of manufacturing isn’t reflected in the price, the planet pays the difference.

5. The Psychological Trap of Discounts Feeds Unsustainable Habits

Black Friday is engineered around urgency and scarcity:

• “Deal ends in 2 hours!”
• “Only 3 left!”
• “You saved £200!”

These cues make us buy more than we need and normalize impulsive, high-carbon consumption patterns.

The environmental impact isn’t just the product – it’s the behaviour shift Black Friday reinforces.

A Better Way Forward: Mindful Consumption

Black Friday itself isn’t the enemy. It’s how we engage with it.

Here are some climate-positive alternatives:

• Buy only what you genuinely need, not what the algorithm says you might like.
• Choose durable, repairable, and sustainably made products.
• Support local businesses with lower logistical footprints.
• Opt for slower shipping, which allows more efficient, consolidated deliveries.
• Skip the sales altogether and participate in “Green Friday” or “Buy Nothing Day.”

And most importantly: consider the long-term cost of short-term bargains.

At Notch, we help businesses understand the hidden impact of consumption

Black Friday and other high-volume sales events aren’t just cultural moments- they’re major operational stress tests for supply chains, infrastructure, and sustainability practices. For businesses, understanding the footprint of these peak periods is critical.

Notch helps organisations:

• Measure and track emissions across logistics, procurement, and digital operations

• Identify hotspots where promotional activity drives unnecessary waste or energy use

• Model the impact of fulfilment speeds, return rates, and packaging choices

• Build strategies that balance commercial performance with climate responsibility

Black Friday may be here to stay, but businesses can choose how they participate. With better data and clearer insights, companies can design sales strategies that support revenue while reducing environmental harm.

If your organisation wants to understand the climate cost of peak demand,and how to reduce it, Notch can help.