Tag Archive for: Green Friday

Shop Green, Shop Local

The global frenzy of Black Friday will be returning this year on November 27th, why not think and act sustainably by opting for a Green Friday instead?

Green Friday aims to help raise awareness around the environmental impact of Black Friday, especially from online sales delivered through national distribution centres.

This year, Covid-19 has massively affected shopping habits so that more consumers are purchasing products online for delivery, so the environmental cost of online Black Friday shopping is elevated.

With the festive season fast-approaching and many of us beginning to rack our brains for gift ideas for our loved ones, let’s shop smart, shop green and shop local this Christmas.

Why Shop Local

 

When you shop local, your money also stays local and goes into the community – including the pockets of our small and independent businesses. VISA reports that for every £10 we spend with a local business, more than a third (£3.80) stays within the area, showing the true value of shopping locally.

Local businesses also tend to be smaller and produce less waste, less air pollution and less traffic than their enormous counterparts. Choosing to buy locally rather than online, leads to less deliveries and delivery vans on our roads, thus less CO2 emissions – plus less packaging!

Many of our small businesses have shown great resilience to the constantly changing times through this pandemic, including offering click and collect/takeaway/delivery services during lockdown. So before clicking on that internet basket, remember that within a 15 minute walk or cycle, there are several businesses in Wimbledon still offering great services/products, providing local jobs and supporting our community.

Lockdown has made us all appreciate the outdoors more and embrace the need for daily exercise. Shopping locally is a great way to incorporate exercise into our daily lives. Opt to walk or cycle into Wimbledon, taking advantage of the many cycle racks available in town and enjoying the brilliant cultural sites on offer.

Shop Green

 

Looking to tick off items on your Christmas gift shopping list? Shop green instead with the wealth of sustainable ranges offered by our stores in Wimbledon and give a gift that goes a long way.

Get some inspiration here including Lush’s ‘Naked Skin Care’ collection and JoJo Maman Bebe’s ‘Polarfleece’ children’s clothing, made entirely from recycled plastic bottles!

Zero, Wimbledon’s first zero-waste shop will be opening in Centre Court Shopping Centre this Saturday, offering a simple alternative to excessive single-use packaging consumption with a wide range of ready-to-go bulk items. Their Zero Waste Kits make the perfect gift for the eco-conscious!

Shop local this Christmas for the future of our town.

#LoveLocal #ShopLocal #GreenFriday

Shop Local This Festive Season

In light of the fast-approaching Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas Day, Love Wimbledon is urging consumers and businesses to shop local this festive season and help to support local businesses in Wimbledon Town Centre.

It is evident that online shopping has become increasingly popular in recent years, with buying behaviour changing rapidly too. Now more than ever, consumers are buying and returning more items online, with next-day delivery and free returns becoming the new standard. Often shoppers buy clothes online with the expectation of returning them, with recent figures suggesting that almost half of what consumers spend online, is returned.

What is often forgotten is the environmental impact of these few mouse clicks, which is becoming increasingly relevant given the current state of climate change. Despite its advantages, shopping online has a large impact on the environment. When you shop online, you can receive separate packages within multiple deliveries, typically from delivery trucks or vans. In addition to this, additional packaging which often includes single-use plastic, is used in excess to protect products in parcel deliveries. Compare this to shopping locally, where consumers tend to use their one trip to their local town centre to combine tasks, e.g. purchase Christmas presents, grab some groceries and browse through a bookstore.

When you shop local, your money also stays local. In other words, rather than adding to the profits of multi-national chains, your money goes into the pockets of your neighbours in the community. By choosing to shop local your money could be helping a family-run independent business, who’s owners are trying to fund a new bike for their child. Local businesses tend to be smaller, produce less waste than their enormous counterparts, and usually buy locally, live locally, and therefore create less air pollution and traffic.

 

 

Helen Clark Bell, CEO of Love Wimbledon is passionate about environmental issues

“Shopping locally at our independent businesses, charity shops and our market stalls, you are helping to keep the character and diversity of our town centre alive. Shopping online also means losing out on receiving great customer service and often, local businesses offer good value and outstanding, personal service all year round, bringing a warm, welcoming personality to a town centre whilst building that all important sense of community and belonging”

– Helen Clark Bell, CEO of Love Wimbledon.

Love Wimbledon also encourages you to go one step further this Black Friday and Cyber Monday, by resisting the urge to buy more and instead opting for recycling or reusing gifts. So shop smart and shop local this season, and help reduce the demand for new products, and their carbon footprint, whilst supporting a good cause.

 

Photo Credits: First Mile

 

Wimbledon is full of great independent stores including Fayre & Square, FieldersAubergine Art gallery, Health ZonePhokas Barbers and Gina Conway’s Aveda salon. Pop down to one of our many charity stops, including the National institute for African Studies charity shop,  Cancer Research and Oxfam, where you can get pre-loved gems for a fraction of the price.

Get involved and go green this Black Friday and show your support on Small Business Saturday by supporting our independent businesses on Saturday 7th December.

And don’t forget to visit our lively Christmas Markets, which are now single-use plastic free, where you can pick up unique handmade gifts from local artisans and taste flavourful street food from our award-winning traders.

 

 

 

Join our vision to ensure a brighter future for Wimbledon and help to strengthen our town centre businesses.