XR Tasmania Invites Hobart Shoppers To Step Right Up To A Planet Clearance Sale
Extinction Rebellion Australia, 1 Dec 2021
XR skeletons came out to play in Hobart on the corporate-driven ‘Black Friday’ festival of consumerism.
An eye-catching banner and placards helped get the point across to shoppers in Elizabeth Mall.
Calls went out to "Clear the planet of animals" and "Buy into your own extinction". The exuberant skeletons offered "The Destruction of the Earth at discount prices - Going, going, almost gone!" and caled "Buy now, future generations will pay later!"
Meanwhile in Europe, Extinction Rebellion blocked a total of 15 Amazon fulfilment centres in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands to confront the exploitative and environmentally destructive business practices of Amazon - one of the world’s largest companies.
The actions held Amazon up as an example of the wider economic system, which is designed to keep us hooked on buying things we don’t need, at a price the planet cannot afford.
Back in 2019, XR Rebels in New York City re-labelled Black Friday as ‘Buy Nothing Day’, walking slowly and silently through a store, pushing empty shopping trolleys in a lengthy chain of non-shoppers. As the chain made its waythrough the maze of store aisles, shoppers were invited to take a minute's break from the destructive frenzy of consumerism. Outside the shop emission-free holiday gift coupons were handed out as an alternative to bought holiday gifts.
These actions highlight the way that advertising and marketing are used to make us forever want more than we have. There’s always more to buy, with planned obsolescence, excessive packaging and use of ever cheaper (often plastic) parts all making the problem worse. Waste disposal has become a massive problem across the world. Our oceans are slowly but surely becoming a giant waste disposal pit.
We need a system based on human needs that takes into account the impact on the Earth!