"Green Friday" instead of "Black Friday"
Deutsche Umwelthilfe is calling for the abolition of discount days such as Black Friday or Cybermonday. Instead, more repairs should be made.
(Image: Veja/Shutterstock.com)
Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) is calling on retailers to abolish promotional days such as Black Friday or Cybermonday. These would lead to a waste of resources. According to forecasts by the German Retail Association, 5.9 billion euros are spent on promotional goods on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This is at the expense of the environment. Barbara Metz, Federal Managing Director of DUH, is therefore calling for a "Green Friday" with cheap offers to repair defective devices instead of motivating people to buy new ones. DUH is appealing to consumers to use functional goods for as long as possible and to have defective products repaired.
According to DUH, after the days of consumer frenzy, there is often a flood of returns that are destroyed. There is no ban on this. "Every year, 17 million returned items are destroyed in Germany," explains Thomas Fischer, DUH Head of Circular Economy. He described it as an "indictment" that the Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection, Steffi Lemke, had not managed to "initiate an enforceable legal ordinance to prevent this unspeakable waste of resources" during her time in office. In his opinion, the next federal government must put a stop to the destruction of returns.
Videos by heise
DUH also warns against illegally imported products that are purchased via online marketplaces and often do not comply with the applicable environmental or safety standards. "Many illegal imported products are offered via online sales platforms, especially on the days of the Black Friday sales. In most cases, these do not comply with any environmental regulations or product safety standards that apply in this country. According to the DUH, online platforms must therefore be held liable for illegally offered products if manufacturers, distributors or authorized representatives are not available in Germany. In addition, the platforms must ensure that all due diligence obligations, such as information on disposal or taking back old electrical appliances, are met before selling via their marketplace," says Fischer.
(mack)
