Why buy clothes on Black Friday when you can just swap and stay sane?

With Black Friday specials splashed in every newspaper advert and online, your head is probably already spinning as the shopping list keeps getting longer.

From bulk toilet paper to food items, electronics, clothes and furniture, the list of “bargains” is endless, with some giant retailers preparing to open at midnight to accommodate shoppers.

But why shop for new clothes when you can simply swap what’s in your wardrobe for good ol' second-hand items? That’s what Cape Town's anti-consumerism movement is encouraging people to do on Friday.

Nude Foods, a plastic-free grocery store in Constitution Street, Cape Town, and sustainable-living movement Twyg are asking consumers to bring at least three “gently-worn garments" and to "swap them for others”.

Twyg founder Jackie May said trading clothes not only saves consumers from unnecessary shopping but can also help save the planet: recycling clothes not only reduced emissions but significantly reduced waste.

Black Friday shopping is growing faster in South Africa than in most other nations. Experts often caution against it, however, describing it as a day when retailers sell old stock to make way for new goods.

May said the day encourages over-consumption of goods, “generating senseless waste and the unnecessary use of many scarce raw materials”.

“Already our consumption habits are taking a toll on the planet, with increased emissions, increased land use and deforestation accelerating climate change," she said.

"Think of the resources that go into making raw materials such as cotton, for instance. The water they use producing cotton alone is way too much. Sadly, most of these materials end up in the landfill as consumers never needed them in the first place.”

All unswapped clothes will be donated to a clothing charity, Chic Mamas.

Nude Foods owner Paul Rubin said the initiative is inspired by sustainability projects elsewhere in the world, such as Eco-Age and its global Fashion Exchange, led by ethical fashion campaigner Livia Firth, which call on consumers to "take back" BlackFriday. The initiative is a "slow" movement that encourages consumers to consume less.

“#TakeBackBlackFriday is about creating awareness around unnecessary consumerism. Clothes-swopping is a brilliant way to refresh your wardrobe,” said Rubin.

Meanwhile, a new study has suggested that buying less leads to a happier life and a healthy planet.

In the study, published in the academic journal Energy Research and Social Science, researchers conducted a comprehensive survey comparing the lifestyles of people involved in various sustainability initiatives to those who are not.

They found that "members" involved in initiatives in countries such as the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Germany and Romania had significantly smaller carbon footprints than non-members. They were also more likely to be satisfied and less driven by materialistic aspirations.

“We found that initiative members eat more plant-based food and used more second-hand clothing,” said one of the researchers, Diana Ivanova from the University of Leeds in the UK.

“Members were able to cut their carbon footprints by 43% for food-related emissions and 86% for clothing-related emissions.”

Researchers found that wearing used clothes did nothing to dampen the happiness of people choosing to cut their carbon footprints.