Twitter Buying Trends: Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Holiday shopping is increasingly being influenced by social media platforms like Twitter, this is particularly true of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. As indicated in a 2013 poll, those who use Twitter spend more and use the portal as a strategy resource that informs their buying decisions.

According to a DB5 survey of 1,000 US adults 7 out of 10 of our users will rely on Twitter to enhance their Black Friday and Cyber Monday experiences. A total of 85 percent of Twitter users shop on Black Friday and 81 percent shop on Cyber Monday. Unsurprisingly, Twitter uses are bigger online shoppers than non-Twitter users. While 54 percent of all adults plan to shop on both Black Friday and Cyber Monday days, that number jumps to 68 percent among Twitter users.

A Green Christmas and a Sustainable State of Mind

The holiday season is here and many of us are making more responsible choices, however, while personal actions are critical, this time of year is also a wonderful opportunity to green our consciousnesses. While we all must strive to reduce our energy consumption and eliminate the waste we produce, there is a psychological dimension to environmental stewardship that may not be so obvious.

People who are interested in being more environmentally and socially responsible do a host of things at Christmas time and throughout the year. 

Decorations

When it comes to decorations, they use natural materials like organic cotton and sustainable wood. They avoid plastic containing PVC and toxic chemicals like phthalates, as well as decorations that contain lead and mercury.

Video - Unsustainable Christmas Statistics and How to Make Christmas Greener

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Electronic Receipts are Convenient and Save Trees

Video - How Sustainable is your Christmas?

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A Green Christmas and a Sustainable State of Mind
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Electronic Receipts are Convenient and Save Trees

Electronic Receipts are Convenient and Save Trees

Instead of printing out a paper receipt, many stores you now give you the option of sending your receipt by email instead. This is both convenient for consumers and it saves a precious resource. Around ten million trees are cut down each year to make receipts in the US. Trees both provide oxygen and sequester CO2. 

In addition to being better for the environment it also is a great way to organize your records. They can be kept in a separate folder for future reference. This is ideal in the event that you need to return an item or for filing tax returns.

Green Market Oracle's Gift Guide: A Summary of More Responsible Gifts

Are you someone with a green conscience looking for a last minute gift idea? Look no further than the Green Market Oracle's summary of green gift ideas that are sure to please everyone on your holiday list. These gifts are not only more environmentally responsible they also communicate something about your own ecological attitudes.

Here is a quick review of 18 gift recommendations as well as a dozen catalogs each full of green gift ideas.

Event - Halton Halton Environmental Network (HEN) Holiday Social & Enviro Guide Release

Halton Environmental Network (HEN) Holiday Social and 2014 Enviro Guide Release will take place on Thursday December 12, 2013, at Queen Elizabeth Park Community & Cultural Centre in Oakville Ontario. The gathering will start at 5 pm in the multi-purpose room, C-094, near the front entrance. It's also the launch of HEN's 10th anniversary year! They will be sharing some holiday enviro tips and doing a re-gift exchange! Bring a new unwanted gift you've received, leave it on our table, and take one you want. (Participation is optional.) They will donate any leftover gifts to a local charity. If you haven't seen their new office yet, they will be happy to take you on a tour. All are welcome. Light refreshments provided.

Green Tuesday: The Best of Thanksgiving Consumerism Strives to be Both Sustainable and Profitable

In 2011 Green America launched Green Tuesday to promote sustainable products and services during the period of rampant holiday consumerism. Green Tuesday is celebrated on the Tuesday after the Thanksgiving weekend, it is designed to inspire consumers to make "thoughtful, purposeful, eco-minded choices." Green Tuesday has a lot of competition from other sustainability initiatives including those associated with Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. The day is also being claimed by another event called "Giving Tuesday," which encourages Americans to donate to charity.

Video - Small Business Saturday Contributes to Sustainability

Small Business Saturday has been around for three years and in that time people are increasingly seeing the value of shopping at mom and pops instead of the big boxes. As explained in a Treehugger article,

"[T]he best tool for greening our lives is Urbanity- building communities that you can get around in without a car. Where you can get what you need within walking or biking distance. That's where small businesses come in to play. They are local, they support the community, and they make our main streets come alive."

Waste is an Unfortunate Thanksgiving Tradition

The holiday season represents a high point for retailers and a low point for the environment. There are two major things we can do to help minimize our impacts. The first is to be more mindful of purchasing behaviors and second is to do a better job of managing our waste. Waste is one of the biggest problems associated with the holidays. Waste is highly detrimental to the environment and according to the EPA, 32 million tons of plastic waste are generated yearly, 14 million tons of which are used in packaging. During the period from Thanksgiving to the New Year, Americans generate 25 percent more waste than average. This includes

Black Friday Purchasing Behaviors: Shopping Locally and Learning from the Great Recession of 2008

What can the environmentally conscious consumer do to be a more responsible shopper? One obvious thing we can do to help offset environmental impacts is to buy local. We may also benefit from reflecting on the implications of the economic meltdown of 2008. Black Friday is a fascinating conflagration of consumerism kicking off a spending frenzy worth more than $59 billion in 2012, which was up from $52.5 billion in 2011. To capitalize on this orgy of consumerism, retail outlets are opening earlier every year. This year many big box stores opened their doors on the Thursday prior to Black Friday. Just five years after the start of the Great Recession, consumers are battling each other in retail outlets to save a few dollars. This may be a good time of year to remember what happened in 2008 and why.

How to Green Your Black Friday Shopping

Black Friday is a consumer spectacle that is rife with excess and waste. However, there are some easy ways that we can reduce our environmental impacts. Here are five simple tips from FatWallet that can help to make your black Friday more green.  

1. Recycled Products: Try to find products that that are made from recycled or biodegradable materials. For example, several book publishers now only print books made from recycled paper.

2. Energy Efficient Electronics: When buying appliances and electronic devices, check for items that are rechargeable or energy-efficient. Look for the Energy Star logo.

Infographic - Thanksgiving: Staying Within 100 Miles and Other Tips from Sustainable America

How to Help Make Black Friday More Green from C2ES

While less shopping is always the more ecologically aware choice, here are some ideas for making Black Friday greener from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES).

Practice precycling. Precycling is the practice of avoiding the purchase of items that will produce waste such as packaging, whether that waste is recycled or not. After all, the most environmentally friendly product is the one that minimizes resources altogether. Find some tips on precycling.

Tips to Make Black Friday More Green from FatWallet

Black Friday is a consumer spectacle that is rife with excess and waste. However, FatWallet offers some tips on how to make your black Friday more green. Try to find products that that are made from recycled or biodegradable materials. For example, several book publishers now only print books made from recycled paper. In terms of appliances and electronic devices, check for items that are rechargeable or energy-efficient. They should have the Energy Star logo on them if they are verified efficient machines. Another tip is to look for products that use minimal packaging. After all, if the box and plastic wrappings are going to be thrown away, why pay extra for them and add to the landfills? When it is time to pay, use a green credit card whenever possible. These are credit cards where a portion of each transaction that a customer makes goes towards support for green charities or causes. Finally, pack all of the new purchases into reusable shopping bags instead of reaching for a pile of plastic bags.

Consumer Spending for a Greener World

It should be obvious that we cannot sustain our current trajectory of consumption. We simply cannot afford traditional consumerism. By putting their spending power to work on less environmentally harmful products and services, consumers can dramatically lessen their impacts on the Earth. To be green consumers we need to be more mindful of what we are purchasing and why.

Green Consumers

Consumers have tremendous power to improve our world. While buying less is always well advised, there are ways we can put consumer dollars to work to advance the green economy. Green shopping implies spending money on products that are less harmful to the environment. In the final analysis where we spend our money determines the type of world we create. When we make green purchases we are helping to build a more sustainable economy.

GOP Fights Removal of Oil Subsidies

Republicans have rejected a bill that would have killed tax breaks for big oil companies. Despite the President's plea to end oil subsidies, on Thursday March 29 the Senate voted 51-47 against a Democratic bill that would remove billions of dollars in oil company tax breaks. President Obama has been a champion of ending big oil's subsidies since taking office. "It's like hitting the American people twice," Obama said. "You're already paying a premium at the pump right now. And on top of that, Congress...has thought it was a good idea to send billions of dollars more in tax dollars to the oil industry."