Green Friday 2024: the sustainable alternative to Black Friday
The downsides of Black Friday - and how to avoid them
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Chris Kaiser
- 18/08/2024
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You’ve probably heard of Black Friday, but have you met its cooler sibling, Green Friday?
And do you know how to make the most of Green Friday in your company?
No? No problem, we’ll introduce you to the Friday siblings today. We also reveal sustainable shopping tips and show you how to make your Green Friday even greener.

Do you love Green Friday like we do?
Share it with your loved ones!
What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is the unofficial name for the day after Thanksgiving, which is celebrated on the last Thursday in November.
While Black Friday heralds the Christmas season, there’s a pretty funny story behind it.

The history of Black Friday
Since the Thanksgiving holiday falls on a Thursday, many employees in the 1950s called in sick the next day.
Of course, if the holiday falls on a Thursday, who wouldn’t call in sick the next day to enjoy a four-day weekend? (Pssst…if you bump into my boss, just mention how unwell I looked the last time you saw me).
In any case, people called in sick to enjoy the long weekend, but also to be able to start their Christmas shopping in time.
The stores naturally noticed the increase in sales and therefore started to advertise various offers to attract shoppers into their stores.
To this day, Black Friday remains one of the biggest sales days of the year.
The dark side of Black Friday
Black Friday is economically very valuable for many companies.
From an ecological point of view, it is Friday in the darkest shades of black due to the extent of the current situation.

Black Friday brings with it many problems, but today we will only address one of these negative aspects.
The attractive Black Friday discounts make it difficult to look away, which naturally leads to impulse buys, things are bought that are unnecessary.
This then leads to waste and unnecessary CO? emissions.
Which in turn is not so good for our planet.
At Click A Tree, however, we prefer to focus on the positive and find solutions to existing problems.

But don’t worry, we’re not here to tell you to stop shopping or buying gifts.
Because, as with everything, there is also a cool sustainable solution for Black Friday:
Green Friday enters the scene.
What is Green Friday?
(As I write this, I can’t help but imagine you humming along to ‘Summer Nights’ from Grease: “Tell me more, tell me more. “
And now that you’ve got an earworm, let’s move on to the actual article).
In 2015, the first ideas for Green Friday were formed as a counter-movement to Black Friday.
Instead of shopping until they “drop”, people are encouraged to shop more mindfully and sustainably on Green Friday.

It’s as simple as that: Before you buy something, just take a moment to think about whether you really want and need this item.
While the Green Friday movement encourages people to shop more sustainably, they also motivate people to spend more time with their loved ones.
Yes, you guessed it, in the green countryside.
So, yes, you can still go shopping (more on special Green Friday deals below).
But you can also do much more.
Can I still shop on (Black) Green Friday?
We know how good it feels to buy gifts for yourself and your loved ones.
So we would never tell you to stop. It just feels too good.
And to be honest, these Black / Green Friday discounts are making it really hard not to strike.
However, we recommend that you shop sustainably.
Which is very easy these days, as many stores follow criteria to offer sustainable products.
And just as there are Black Friday offers, there are also special Green Friday offers (more on this below).
A trick on how you can make Black Friday green
I’m sure you know what happens when you go shopping hungry?
You buy much more than you actually wanted.
A similar principle applies to Black Friday: before you enter the (online) store, you should know what you want to buy.
This not only saves you time, but also means you only buy the items that are actually on the list.
It’s best to start your shopping list a month before Green Friday and don’t add anything new to the list a week beforehand.
This way you can be sure that you only buy things that you really need.
And while you’re thinking about what to buy:
Check out our list of 20 sustainable gift ideas – it even includes the perfect surprise for people who say they don’t need anything.

Pro tip: Take 25% of the money you saved during Black/Green Friday deals and tip your mail carrier.
Invest 50% in saving the planet and planting trees.
Then use the remaining 25% to treat yourself to a delicious meal or something similar.
Enjoy it with a clear conscience, because it costs you nothing as you have paid for it with the money you have saved.
And look, we can actually learn a thing or two from the British royal family, as Prince Charles’ mantra is:
“Buy once, buy well”².
We agree, because this is a really good way to shop sustainably.
How to make your Green Friday even greener
What does it look like? Have we convinced you to switch to Green Friday?
There’s a trick to make this day even greener: plant a tree for every product you buy on Green Friday.
By planting trees for your purchases, you are making the planet greener at the same time.
Of course, it’s not just trees that you plant.
These trees become part of a self-sufficient ecosystem that creates habitats for animals and at the same time provides safe food sources for the local people.
Every tree counts. Click here and plant trees.
Green Black Friday for companies
1. plant one tree per purchase
We have already shared best practices and concrete examples of how sustainability can be implemented profitably in companies with you.
Green Friday is no different. Now that most people value sustainability, you can score points with your customers with smart promotions.
Here are a few ideas on how your company can benefit from Green Friday:
A tree is planted for every purchase and every order on Black Friday.
The great thing about it is that you can keep your customers informed about the development of their tree in the long term.
We will send you regular updates, reports and marketing material, which you are of course welcome to share.
And of course, you also inform your fans about your latest offers as part of the tree update.
One of the simplest, most profitable and longest-lasting ESG solutions for companies.
2. remove 1 kg of plastic from the sea from a certain purchase value
Your orders are usually around 80 €?
Wonderful!
Incentivize your customers to order a little more on Green Black Friday.
From a purchase value of €100, you collect 1 kg of plastic from the sea for them.
Marine plastic is one of the Germans’ biggest concerns for the future!
Of course, this doesn’t just work on Black Friday, such incentives always work.
And thanks to our ESG project in the Philippines, you can easily plant trees and have plastic waste collected from the sea.
3. offer trees as an upsell option
None of the first options appeal to you, but you still want to make a difference?
Simply offer trees as an upsell option.
Whether in the online store or at the POS in the store: people simply buy trees from you in addition to their purchase.
And at the end of the month, you will tell us how many trees you want us to plant in your name.
You have zero risk and zero costs.
If nobody buys a tree, nothing happens.
It really couldn’t be simpler, could it?
4. brilliant Green Black Friday ideas!
Do you have any other ideas on how to turn Black Friday into Green Friday?
And you know exactly how you can make your company even more sustainable?
Tell us how!
Let’s discuss your idea together and implement it as easily and profitably as possible.
What can I do on Green Friday if I don't want to shop?
The state of Colorado in the USA has launched “Fresh Air Friday” – go outside to the forest, a park, the mountains, a nearby lake or something similar.
Nothing can make Green Friday even greener than spending it outdoors in nature.
If you want to go one step further, go plogging.
(Plogging is a Swedish invention and means “jogging and picking up garbage”).
If you want, you can also plog without the actual jogging part.
The environment and wildlife will love it!
Plogging is great for you, it’s great for the planet and it’s great for your wallet.
(Note: You can always tip the letter carrier next time. And you can plant another tree now).
Thank you for being here and joining the Green Friday movement, together we are making the planet a more beautiful place.
Green Friday 2024 is on November 29
Green Friday 2024 is like Black Friday on November 29.
But of course you can think sustainably every day of the year.
Here, for example, are the top tips on how to combat microplastics and become a hero or heroine of the oceans.
Green Friday, Black Friday?
If you’re inspired by the idea of Green Friday, share this article with your loved ones and friends so they can learn about this cool movement too.
Alone we are strong, together we are even stronger. And together we can preserve the planet as a place worth living on.
Green Friday FAQs
Here you will find brief answers to the most frequently asked questions about Green Friday – and in some cases also about Black Friday.
Is everything really cheaper on Black Friday?
Many items are actually a little cheaper on Black Friday, but not everything is necessarily cheaper.
The average saving in 2022 was just 4%.
56% of the products were even cheaper on another day in November than on the campaign day itself!
Some offers can be misleading, as prices have been increased in advance to simulate larger discounts.
It is advisable to compare prices in advance and look out for real bargains.
Also remember that “cheap” is not always good.
On the one hand, because it is often at the expense of the environment, and on the other, because it tempts you to buy things that you don’t really need.
So take note of the Green Friday shopping hack we shared with you in the previous part of the article.
Is Black Friday sustainable?
Black Friday is often not sustainable.
It encourages excessive consumption and impulse buying.
Many products, especially cheap electronics and fashion, are manufactured under questionable conditions.
The increase in packaging waste and transportation emissions is an additional burden on the environment.
However, there are sustainable alternatives, such as second-hand purchases or conscious shopping with environmentally friendly brands.
This is also where Green Friday came from.
If your favorite brand or the company you work for is not yet participating in Green Friday, share this article with them. Perhaps this will motivate them to take part in Green Friday in the future.
Why is it actually called Black Friday?
The term “Black Friday” has several origins:
1) A common explanation is that it originated in Philadelphia in the 1960s, where the police designated the day after Thanksgiving as “Black Friday” because of the heavy traffic and chaos in the city.
It was as chaotic as Black Friday 1929, the stock market crash.
2) Another explanation relates to accounting: many retailers make so much turnover on this day that their balance sheets change from “red” (loss) to “black” (profit).
3) Meanwhile, this interpretation would also be possible: due to the gloomy black effects on the environment.
So let’s turn Black Friday into Green Friday!
What's so special about Black Friday?
Big discounts: On Black Friday, stores and online stores often offer considerable discounts on a wide range of products.
The start of the Christmas shopping season: Black Friday traditionally marks the start of the Christmas shopping season.
(Have you seen it yet?
Here are the coolest ideas for sustainable gifts!)
Unique offers: Many stores and online stores offer exclusive deals that are only available on this day.
Shopping event: Black Friday has become a global phenomenon, with people all over the world looking for bargains.
Technology and electronics: Offers for electronics, technology and gadgets that are supposedly heavily discounted are particularly popular.
Combination with Cyber Monday: The following Cyber Monday offers additional online discounts, turning the entire weekend into a major shopping event.
Of course, the whole thing is also sustainable.
What's so special about Green Friday?
The special thing about Green Friday is that shopping is really fun and at the same time the planet is protected and preserved.
Retailers offer special incentives to promote sustainable consumption.
For example, sustainable products are reduced to a greater extent, no packaging material is used or incentives such as tree planting are offered to make purchases more sustainable.
What is the background to Green Friday?
We are all familiar with Black Friday.
However, as this is not particularly sustainable and we all share a single planet, efforts were made to make Black Friday more sustainable.
This gave rise to Green Friday.
Share these articles to make the concept even better known!
Because we all benefit from a truly green Friday!