This Friday is Black Friday, a day more and more decried.
What is the first piece of advice you would give to avoid being tempted to participate?
Black Friday was invented by brands to sell more and make consumption an act around which people gather, consuming less than usual.
They are very strong: they tickle our need for accumulation, from clothes to food, and make us want to buy.
First, you have to ask yourself the question of the real need, or not to go to these places of consumption: I know that it will tempt me, even if it is not in accordance with my values.
I'm going to say to myself “ok I'm buying”, and then go home wondering what I'm doing with it… Black Friday is about pushing people to consume.
We must consume better, but how?
By favoring locally produced raw materials, for example.
On textiles, even if it is not obvious at first glance, we must look at labels and eco-labels: eco-responsible organic cotton has nothing to do with the one that comes from afar and is full of pesticides.
Also, you have to be ready to pay a little more to buy products made in France, in correct ethical working conditions compared to those made on the other side of the planet and in terrible conditions.
This is important for the ecological and social impacts of the products we want to consume, and for their sustainability.
But when you're a student, you don't really have the means...
Jeans made in France are five times more expensive than Primark jeans at 15 euros.
But French jeans didn't travel thousands of miles to arrive, weren't made in poor social conditions, and will be there from a sustainability standpoint.
You change it less often!
And it pays off in the long run.
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Then, on food, better consumption costs less: you don't necessarily have to go to organic, ethical and sustainable supermarkets!
Same with bulk!
Personally, I'm not going there, I can't afford it.
On the other hand, in Rennes where I live, there are markets every week, we are in direct contact with the producers and the products are much cheaper.
Admittedly, it takes a little more time and energy to find the right plans.
This is also valid for other products: you can buy in thrift stores or at Emmaüs, which has a real sense of social justice, redistribution and recovery.
All at fair prices.
Is it still possible?
Nope !
I am a director, I needed to buy equipment, the impact of which is not negligible.
It took me a long time to find, either refurbished and second-hand, or… new!
But I gave it my all and couldn't do otherwise.
There are products that will cost too much if they are refurbished or made in France rather than elsewhere and if I don't have the means, I ask myself the question of my need to have this product.
If the answer is yes, you just have to accept this inconsistency.
We must set achievable goals while being aware of the systemic side of the problem: my plastic sneakers from China have a concrete impact, with oil, transport to the store, manufacturing conditions, etc.
If I put all this ecological and social value in this object, it has a great value, in addition to the monetary value: my perception of the product changes and I become attached to keeping it.
On my phone, which I have had for 5 and a half years, I have changed the battery twice and the motherboard once.
Two of the repairers had told me that it had to be changed, but it's a game for me and a source of pride to see it through to the end.
If he let go, I would have given everything!
Another question, travel… Should we stop traveling like we should stop buying fast-fashion brands?
It requires above all to completely review the notion of travel as we review its relationship to consumption.
Traveling has become a form of consumption: I visited this country, this city, as if we were ticking boxes.
Sustainable travel requires a paradigm shift, because 7 days in the sun in the Bahamas will never be a sustainable trip.
On the other hand, if I have two months to get there, and I go there by sailboat or plane but stay there a long time and marvel, that's another thing.
The word travel comes from the Latin via, it is the way, not the destination.
That doesn't mean never fly, but consider the impact of the decision.
Paris-New York is 2 tonnes of CO2, or our consumption of the year, and considering its impact means determining whether or not it is necessary to make this trip and adding the ecological and human value to the monetary value.
Basically, can we be green and imperfect?
Yes !
We really need to demystify ecological commitment.
We are green from the moment we take a first step, and little by little we have a better relationship with consumption and living things.
Do not be afraid of its inconsistencies, just reduce them as much as possible.
We are full of paradoxes because the world is paradoxical: on Black Friday, like going to Morocco by plane for 8 euros against 50 euros for a Paris-Rennes train trip, it's paradoxical!