BRUSSELS (Brussels Morning) – During the night from Saturday to Sunday, Extinction Rebellion activists hung posters on the illuminated windows of a number of large fashion stores in the Rue Neuve in Brussels, with the message “Don’t forget to turn off the lights”. This was announced by the environmental movement on Sunday.
The poster campaign targeted so-called ‘fast fashion’ giants such as Zara, Bershka, Kiko, Chaussea and Mango, where the windows remain lit all night. The Extinction Rebellion asks politics to “ban such wasteful practises”, and also questions the foundations of our economic model.
“How are such aberrations possible when there is no longer any doubt that the environmental crisis is life-threatening to our survival? How can you expect citizens to take the environmental crisis seriously when they are confronted everywhere with how some companies are wasting energy without any hesitation? These practises should have been banned long ago,” the movement’s spokesperson said.
According to Extinction Rebellion, the business model of such textile giants is “based entirely on cheap, low-quality products, with a short useful life”. The movement is calling for the government to impose much stricter sustainability standards and ban all advertising that encourages overconsumption.
Extinction Rebellion is a global environmental movement that aims to compel government action through nonviolent civil disobedience in order to avoid climate system tipping points, biodiversity loss, and the risk of social and ecological collapse.
Last year in the month of April, the Extinction Rebellion had taken over the financial centre of Brussels.
Environmental activists had held the Brussels headquarters of two financial organisations for several hours to protest the “role of the banking and finance sector in the climate problem.”
The financial industry, according to Extinction Rebellion members, was the motor of a “harmful system that is dragging mankind to its demise,” believing that relying on “unlimited development” was an illusion.
The protesters also demanded that financing for so-called “ecocide,” or “environmental murder,” be cut off.
Out of over a hundred people who had taken part, fifteen had been arrested.
One of the demonstrators, Michael, told Euronews that the activists were demonstrating on behalf of the banks.
Michael clarified that he didn’t think any of the banks would go on strike or demonstrate. So they had been acting as their body doubles, protesting for them, striking for them, and temporarily halting their activities.
