French lawmakers look to ban Black Friday over environmental concerns

Protesters in France have blocked an Amazon warehouse south of Paris citing concerns that the Black Friday shopping holiday negatively affects the environment.

Some lawmakers have endorsed the concerns voiced by the protesters citing that the holiday, made popular by American and now observed by deal-seeking shoppers in several countries, is mainly beneficial to large, online retailers and causes high levels of gas emissions and traffic jams. France's minister for environmental transition Elisabeth Borne said to Europe 1 that while she's happy for people to get good deals on Black Friday, small businesses were negatively affected by the tendency for shoppers to buy from Amazon.

French National Assembly member Matthieu Orphelin echoed Borne's sentiment on Twitter, saying, "Stop overconsumption and communications that mislead consumers." Protests have also taken place in other parts of France with signs claiming concern over pollution, emissions, and a monopoly by large online retailers.

Black Friday is traditionally the largest shopping day of the year in countries that observe it, with many stores opening their doors in the early hours of the morning to entice customers to come in for discounted items. Borne also referred to the feverish post-Thanksgiving shopping day as "Frenzied consumerism."

A French legislative committee has brought the issue up for a broader debate. Parliament is set to discuss the matter next month.