Black Friday is thought of as the discount highlight of the year, conveniently placed just before the festive month is in full swing.

Over the course of the pandemic, retail has faced a multitude of setbacks, meaning this year’s day of discounts is likely to be bigger than ever as customers are drawn back into shops for the exclusive deals.

In Wiltshire, people can access the deals from wherever they are, with online platforms like Amazon kicking off their discounts earlier this month, the goods on sale are only a matter of taps away.

But there have been environmental concerns after the climate conference as shopping habits are expected to soar this weekend, creating enormous amounts of waste, as plastic bags are bought, items returned and packaging is thrown away, further enforcing a culture of disposability.

New research from money.co.uk has also predicted that online shopping this Black Friday could release up to 386,243 tonnes of carbon which would have the same impact as 215,778 return flights between London and Sydney.

But the report also revealed that almost a quarter (22.05%) of shoppers now consider the environmental impact of their online purchases, an 88% increase year-on-year.

Brands like H&M have been finding ways to cater to this customer demand. One initiative to become more sustainable was their ‘circular’ party collection which makes use of materials like mono fibre set to make recycling easier.

Founder of Chippenham’s community-led project: ‘Refashion My Town’ Tze Ching-Yeung noted that while the bigger brand’s eco-friendly initiatives are a starting point, they cannot promise a sustainable future for the garments still being sold.

“It’s great that all these big brands are talking about sustainability and they’re doing what they can to try to get change in the way they do their production and how they market things. The average consumer might not have been aware of this at all, but now they’ve helped raise awareness.

"H&M is doing a recycled polyester collection which I don’t necessarily agree with as a sustainable solution because even that just delays the discard of the plastics they are recycling. At the end of that you still end up with the plastics that still end up in the landfill, and if they’re going to push that as a fashion solution I don’t think that’s sustainable,” she said.

In Wiltshire Ms Ching-Yeung noted that the root cause can often be a lack of understanding in a society which tends to move so quickly.

She said: “People like deals, and I think that’s where education comes into play. We don’t get taught about the value of things any more. The value is only valued at the cost value, and we need that change of mindset where cost is not everything, there is an environmental and social prices to play as well.”

Other brands such as M&S have launched a scheme to get shoppers to rent out clothes, which Ms Ching-Yeung suggested could be more effective.

She said: “Hiring clothes in terms of circularity I think is a better option.”