Mum's unfiltered World Book Day rant on social media divides opinion
Alison Perry
Netmums contributorAfter seeing a display of World Book Day costumes in her local Sainsbury's, mum Emma Reed got angry — but not everyone agrees with her
A mum has gone viral on Facebook after posting her unfiltered thoughts about World Book Day costumes.
Emma Reed, who blogs about raising her family in an eco-friendly way was shopping in Sainsbury's when she saw a display of World Book Day costumes, ahead of the annual dress-up day in primary schools on Thursday 7th March.
'Arghhhh no, no, NO!!' she said. 'Sainsbury's is already packed full of brand new world book day costumes.
'You don’t need them. Buying secondhand is fine, it is doable and it’s better for the planet as well as your bank balance. Either that or make one with a few things you’ve got at home.
'It’s one day, we don’t need to be buying new for one day.'
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'Resembles fast fashion'
Speaking to Netmums, Emma said that to her, buying new World Book Day costumes every year resembles fast fashion and that the carbon footprint, plastic man made fibres, poor working conditions and water pollution should be a consideration for parents.
'I know not everybody will throw away a child's costume after one wear — although it is estimated that around 7million Halloween costumes are binned each year in the UK alone — but we do still have to think about the process that some of these costumes went through to get on the shelves and how many people WILL be buying a brand new one year after year.
'And unfortunately the more we buy, the higher the demand this shows to retailers and so the more they will feed into this and more costumes will be manufactured.
'If we alter our shopping habits we can help to make an environmental change.'
'There's plenty of time to scour the second hand and charity shops'
Emma stresses that her Facebook post wasn't intended to come across as judgemental to parents who buy World Book Day costumes, saying, 'My post wasn't meant to come across as parent-shaming.
'It was written from an environmental and budget-friendly point of view.'
Despite this, responses to Emma's post were mixed, with many disagreeing with Emma, feeling they had to justify why they buy new World Book Day costumes each year.
One commented: 'If my child wants a new costume, they can have a new costume and no I don’t let my child get what he wants all the time and he’s not spoilt nor a “spoilt brat” like people like to say.
'It’s something for school that he is excited for and it encourages him to talk about his character and about his favourite book and that’s all I want for him yes they can be expensive but as long as my child is happy and comfortable in what he’s in then that’s all that matters.'
'Get it off Vinted'
However, other parents were quick to show support for Emma, saying how easy it is to buy secondhand.
One commenter said: 'I got my kids costumes off Vinted. Everything is an excuse for shops to make more money at the expense of the planet... It's so sad.'
Another wrote: 'Well said - there's plenty of time to scour the second hand and charity shops, or indeed to whip something up at home.'
Others said that they think schools should stop doing World Book Day dress up altogether.
One wrote: 'I think it's time schools just did away with it' while another said her child's school have scrapped the dress up element, saying,
'My children’s school doesn’t do dress up for world book day, instead they want the focus to be on the books.
'This year they ask for £5 donation so each child gets a recommended book. Far cheaper than costumes and you get a quality book!'
'Shopping secondhand is far easier these days'
Emma told Netmums that she fully understands that sourcing or making eco-friendly costumes is something many parents feel they don't have time for.
'As a working mum of two I know that time is something we all struggle with,' she said.
'But shopping secondhand is far easier these days – charity shops often have rails dedicated to World Book Day at this time of year and we are so lucky to have options right at our fingertips with apps such as Vinted, eBay, Gumtree, Depop and Facebook marketplace which allows us to scroll at any time of day to find what we need pre-loved rather than new.
'Another amazing option is to join a local Facebook freebie page – my town's one has 20,000 members and it is in constant use helping people to declutter what they no longer need and keeping items circulating.'
This comes as more schools are looking at how they celebrate World Book Day, aware of the financial and time pressure it can place on parents.
Netmums podcast host Wendy Golledge says her daughter's primary school asks children to wear pyjamas instead of fancy dress.
'It's brilliant,' she told Netmums. 'They wear their PJs and take their favourite book in. There's none of this scrabbling about trying to sort a costume out.'
Catherine Andrews is another mum whose child's primary school is tackling World Book Day differently this year.
'We got an email the other day telling us there's a costume exchange rail in the school. We can donate old costumes and then select something new for our child. It's such a great idea – who has the money to be buying a new costume every year anyway?'
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