Everyone in America has been trained that the day after thanksgiving is the biggest, craziest shopping day of the year. People start lining up the day before almost for some of the bargains that they perceive to be must haves.

I say perceive because I often wonder how many people get their purchases home and then a day or two later struggle to remember who they bought it for or why they just had to have it. Advertising is a very powerful thing and each and every one of us is going to see hundreds or probably thousands of adverts for some stores before we even sit down for our Turkey. This constant bombardment where we are told what a great deal something is can make many of us feel that we just have to have the item.

Even if we forget how we are pushed into buying some things, we shouldn't forget the environmental costs incurred with just one shopping day. It is going to be a cold day, especially when you get up at 4am to go shopping.

So you have the heating going far earlier than you would normally, you turn on lights, you get in the car and drive to your favorite big box store to join the line as early as possible. One thing that is for sure is that not everything you want will be in one store, so after waiting 2 hours to get one item you will then have to drive to the next store and maybe line up again to get the next item on your list.

How much gas did you just use? There is normally a lot of traffic on the roads so you are having to stop and start and sit with the engine idling. This all uses up even more gas. Now think about all the extra staff that have been called in just to deal with the early morning madness and all the gas they used to get there.

The stores are using huge amounts of power to keep them warm and have the lights on so much earlier than usual. So just by considering the extra gas and the extra power you can see how the day after thanksgiving have a huge environmental impact.