Green Friday 2026: the sustainable alternative to Black Friday

Green Friday 2026 is on Friday, November 27, coinciding with Black Friday.

Instead of discount battles, the focus is on conscious consumption: fewer impulse buys, more impact.

For individuals, this means: shopping with purpose and doing good in the process.

For companies, this means: promotions that build customer loyalty instead of just burning through margins.

In this article, you will find both. Plus the legal rules for green advertising since the EU Greenwashing Directive.

No time to read, but have a Green Friday promotion in mind?

Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving.

In the USA, Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November, which in 2026 is November 26. Black Friday is therefore on November 27, 2026.

It traditionally kicks off the Christmas shopping season. Many retailers extend it into Black Week (November 23 to 30, 2026), which ends with Cyber Monday on November 30.

Since Thanksgiving falls on a Thursday, many employees in the USA called in sick on the Friday after in the 1950s.

Understandable: who would miss out on a four-day weekend? (Pssst … if you see my boss, please tell him I really did look sick last time.)

But people didn’t just use the day off to sleep in; they also used it for their first Christmas shopping.

Retailers noticed the increase in sales and enticed customers with ever-larger offers. To this day, Black Friday is one of the highest-turnover days of the year.

For many companies, Black Friday is economically valuable.

Ecologically, however, it shows itself in the darkest shades of black: the discounts tempt people into impulse buys—things that nobody actually needs. This means additional waste and unnecessary CO2 emissions.

In addition: the savings are often smaller than promised. According to a price study by Idealo, although 73% of products were cheaper on Black Friday 2024 than in October, the average saving was only 7%.¹

High consumption for little real savings.

At Click A Tree, we prefer to focus on solutions.

Don’t worry, we’re not telling you to stop shopping or not to buy gifts. Because there is a sustainable alternative to Black Friday: Green Friday.

Already looking for gift ideas for the holidays? Here are sustainable Christmas gifts with real impact.

Green Friday is the counter-movement to Black Friday.

Instead of shopping until you drop, the focus is on conscious, sustainable consumption.

It’s this simple: before you buy something, take a moment and ask yourself if you really want and need the item.

At the same time, the Green Friday movement encourages spending more time with loved ones. Yes, you guessed it: outside in nature.

Yes. We know how good it feels to give gifts to yourself and others.

And honestly: the discounts make it hard not to strike.

We only recommend one thing: shop sustainably. This is easier today than ever before. According to PwC, 59% of consumers always or frequently pay attention to sustainability criteria when shopping.² Accordingly, the range of sustainable products and special Green Friday promotions is growing.

You probably know what happens when you go shopping hungry: you buy much more than planned.

The same principle applies to Black Friday. If you know what you want to buy beforehand, you save time and only buy what is on the list.

It’s best to start your shopping list a month before Green Friday. One week before, nothing new is added.

And while you’re considering what to buy: take a look at our 20 sustainable gift ideas. They even include the perfect surprise for people who claim they don’t need anything.

Pro tip: take the money you saved on Black or Green Friday deals and split it up.

Give 25% to the mail carrier as a tip.

Invest 50% to have trees planted. Or give impact directly with impact gifts.

Treat yourself to the remaining 25%, for example, a good meal. With a clear conscience, because you are paying for it with the money you saved.

There is actually something to be learned from the British Royal Family. King Charles III, even as Prince, issued the motto: “Buy once, buy well.”³

We agree. A truly good way to shop sustainably.

Many people value sustainability: 59% always or frequently pay attention to it when shopping.²

At the same time, pure discount battles are losing momentum. The retail association HDE expected 5.8 billion euros in turnover for Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025, representing a decline for the first time since 2016.?

Those who advertise with impact instead of just percentages on Green Friday stand out. Here are four ideas on how your company can benefit. We have collected more examples of profitable sustainability in companies here.

A tree is planted for every purchase on Green Friday.

The genius part: you can keep your customers informed about the development of their tree in the long term. We provide regular updates, reports, and marketing material that you are, of course, welcome to share.

And in the course of the tree update, you can also inform your fans about your latest offers.

Read about what this costs per order here: What does it cost to have a tree planted?

A simple, profitable ESG solution for companies that several hundred partners are already using.

Are your orders usually around €80?

Then give your customers an incentive to order a bit more on Green Friday: for purchase values of €100 or more, you have 1 kg of plastic collected from the ocean.

The topic is a moving one: for 77% of Germans, plastic in the ocean is one of the three biggest environmental problems facing the oceans.?

Such incentives naturally work all year round, not just on Green Friday.

Thanks to our project in the Philippines, you can have trees planted and plastic waste collected from the ocean.

Would you rather leave the choice to your customers? Then offer trees as an upsell—an additional product to the purchase.

Whether in the online shop or at the checkout in-store: your customers simply add trees to their purchase. At the end of the month, you tell us how many trees we should plant in your name.

No setup fee, no monthly fee, no minimum purchase. You only pay for trees that your customers actually buy.

Our example of how Cocoon Hotels offers trees as an add-on during booking shows what this looks like in practice.

Since September 27, 2026, the rules of EU Directive 2024/825, also known as EmpCo, have applied in Germany. It is directed against greenwashing.

For your Green Friday campaign, this means:

• General environmental claims such as “environmentally friendly” or “green” are no longer permitted without verifiable evidence.
• Claims that a product is “climate neutral” through compensation are prohibited.
• Concrete, verifiable facts are permitted and convincing.

An example: instead of “Our shop is climate neutral,” write “For every order on November 27, we plant a tree via Click A Tree.”

Read all the details in our article on the EU Greenwashing Directive 2024/825. If in doubt, have your advertising claims legally reviewed.

Want to think beyond Green Friday? Here you can find concrete nature-positive strategies for companies.

Green Friday 2026 is on Friday, November 27, 2026, just like Black Friday. Black Week runs from November 23 to 30, and Cyber Monday is on November 30.

Of course, you are allowed to think sustainably every day of the year. For example, with these tips against microplastics. Or with one of the 12 meaningful New Year’s resolutions for 2027.

If you like the idea of Green Friday, share this article with your network. Together, we can achieve more.