How we're turning Black Friday into Green Friday

The Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend is one of the busiest weekends of the year in retail. In recent years, it has become bigger, longer, and more extreme with sales and the reaction/violence shown by consumers.

We believe that these massive sales create massive waste, and the idea of Black Friday and the consumerism it promotes isn't a healthy concept for ourselves or the environment.

However, as multiple billions are spent in the UK alone over the Black Friday weekend, can ethical small businesses afford not to participate?

That's why we're participating in Black Friday on our own terms, with clear messages about our thoughts and intentions.

1. Our Black Friday discount is a modest 10% off on our plastic-free product range. This is due to us choosing to support and stock small, ethical businesses who pay fairly and use sustainable materials. By not cutting our margins more, we can continue to support these small businesses and makers.

2. Unlike the new TVs and gadgets everyone is encouraged to consume over this weekend, our promotions are purely focused towards reusables and plastic-free products. If you are going to buy over this weekend, please purchase with consideration of the products end-of-life and materials used in production. Remember, humanity’s demand for ecological resources and services exceeded what the Earth can regenerate by the 2nd August this year (Earth Overshoot Day). We all need to reduce consumption.

3. Black Friday and it's endless discounts are hard to escape and we understand that you may strongly disagree with the concept and not wish to participate. That is why our discount code is not applied automatically. If you want to use it to save 10% on our sustainable range, please use code GF23, but the choice is yours and we respect your decision to spend, save and support where you think is best.

As with every weekend, our top three tips for consuming this weekend are:

- Always consider the 'Buyerarchy Of Needs' (picture below) - this was created by the Canadian illustrator and environmental journalist, Sarah Lazarovic. The idea is to start from the bottom and work your way up when considering any purchase.

- If you've worked your way through the Buyerarchy, think about the products materials used in production, where the product was made and by who, and the end-of-life for a product. When considering materials, home compostable is best!

- Where you can, support small and support ethical. Small businesses generally have more eco-friendly supply chains and produce less carbon than big conglomerates. Money spent at small businesses stays more local and boosts the local economy.

If you have any questions about our views of Black Friday or consumerism in general, we'd love to have a chat! Feel free to email us at hello@greenpeareco.com

Thank you for reading.