Brace yourself, it’s almost time for Black Friday. The delirious day of discounts where almost everyone plans to stock up on gifts and goodies before Xmas.
Black Friday sales have soared year over year. The event brought billions in revenue last time round. And it surely won’t be any different in 2024.
It’s not just about the economy though. In the UK alone, Black Friday sales have released 386,243 tonnes of carbon according to Money.co.uk. That’s equivalent to the CO2 produced by 215 flights between London and Sydney. It’s also said that 80% of products we buy end up in landfills or incinerated after a very short life. Which can’t be helped by the retail bonanza that’s round the corner.
On the other hand, perhaps the more generous Black Friday deals give folk a better chance to buy what they need. But overall, Black Friday is a little suspect – if you ask us. Here are some scary stats:
So, to avoid all the messy Black Friday mayhem, of the environmental and interpersonal kind, let’s take a look at some brands that are doing things differently and more sustainably this year, in 2024.
1) Montane
- Product: Sportswear and outdoor gear
- Campaign: Fix the Fells
- Region: Worldwide
Since 2019, the brand has seen Black Friday as a chance to give back. For the last few years, they’ve chosen to support Fix the Fells: an organization dedicated to protecting the Lake District National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site in England. That’s fitting as Montane is an outdoor brand. They support Fix the Fells in a few ways all year round, though Black Friday gets some extra love and attention. Not in the form of sales and discounts, but instead, Montane will match all your donations made to Fix the Fells in the checkout for November.
The Lake District National Park
2) FREITAG
- Product: bags
- Campaign: DON’T SHOP, JUST S.W.A.P.
- Region: Switzerland
FREITAG screams a big “No” to mass consumption on Black Friday this year. For the 6th year in a row, the Zurich-based bag brand will be closing its online stores. But they’ll also be closing the checkout counters at their physical stores. Instead, they’ll use this day to promote alternatives to conventional consumption.
For years, FREITAG has been offering their buyers the digital S.W.A.P. (Shopping Without Any Payment) exchange platform, to help bags that are no longer in use find a new owner.
On Friday, November 29th, 2024 from 5:00 PM, anyone with a FREITAG bag can swap it for another at numerous physical stores throughout Europe and Asia. There will also be drinks and music. Tempting.
3) The Swapshop x BlueCity
- Product: Secondhand clothing x Circular economy platform
- Campaign: Sustainable Saturday
- Region: The Netherlands
The Swapshop is anti-overconsumption by nature, as their business is based on exchanging (or, swapping) clothes. For a few years in a row, they partnered with BlueCity, a circular economy platform in Rotterdam, to host a big clothing swap.
In 2024, they’re doing the same, but they’re making a whole day out of it:
- big clothing swap
- sustainable Christmas market
- geometric wall art workshop
- textile repair cafe
- BlueCity expedition
- textile dyeing with natural dyes workshop
And, admission is free.
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4) Dille and Kamille
- Product: Home, garden, & kitchen store
- Campaign: Green Friday
- Region: The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany
For Dille and Kamille – a one-stop shop for sustainable home, garden, and kitchen appliances – Black Green Friday is not about discounts but about doing something good for nature. Since 2018 they’ve taken Green Friday initiatives, and this year 2024 is the third year they’re going the extra mile and closing all their physical and online stores. What’s more, Dille and Kamille employees will head to the streets to clean up litter around their stores. Meanwhile, bereft customers are encouraged to also do something ‘green’ on Friday, November 29th, such as cleaning up their own neighborhood, helping the birds in the garden, making candlesticks with greenery, or doing something else that’s ‘green’.
5) KEELA
- Product: Sportswear and outdoor gear
- Campaign: Bright Friday
- Region: Worldwide
What is it about outdoor brands and their desire to do a bit of good? A stronger connection to nature, perhaps… KEELA is the second one on our list that’s decided Black Friday is the perfect time to teach folk about mindful consumption. If you’re going to make a purchase, might as well do it with some purpose.
This year makes it the sixth consecutive year that the brand will skip heavy discounting. Instead, they’ll be donating the equivalent value usually set aside for Black Friday discounts to Cash For Kids’ Mission Christmas Appeal. From November 22nd to December 2nd 2024, 15% of KEELA’s online sales will be donated to help the children’s charity in their mission to make sure underprivileged children don’t go without during the yuletide season. Isn’t that sweet?
6) Colorful Standard
- Product: Sustainable clothing
- Campaign: We Love Colors
- Region: Worldwide
We’d expect nothing less from Colorful Standard, a slow fashion brand making simple – yet colorful – clothing almost entirely from organic cotton and recycled materials. They never do Black Friday and each year they spread a different message. This Black Friday, through social media, their website, and their newsletter, they say, “We love colors, not Black Friday.” Colorful Standard wants us to choose them because it’s the right fit for us, not because of a rushed sale.
7) ECOALF
- Product: Sustainable clothing
- Campaign: Recycling Black Friday
- Region: EU, Japan, Mexico
ECOALF’s mission is to stop using the planet’s natural resources in a careless way. Founded in 2009, its initial aim was to create recycled products with the same quality as non-recycled ones. Now, they also incorporate materials of natural origin such as linen, hemp, cellulose fibers, or organic cotton.
ECOALF doesn’t participate in Black Friday, so you’ll find 0 discounts on their website. Instead, they want to show you the impact our habits have on the planet and change them. In ECOALF’s campaign, which consisted of disturbing images of fashion waste, they say, “It’s time to break the habit, not the planet. It’s time to add less to the cart and more to the Earth.”
8) Haglöfs
- Product: Sportswear and outdoor gear
- Campaign: Cold shoulder
- Region: Worldwide
And here it is, the 3rd outdoor brand on our list! This Swedish brand has taken as stance against Black Friday for 9 years. This year is no different. Their stores will be open, but with no additional discounts. It’s business as usual. The act doesn’t mean they’re completely against promotions of any kind, but they’ve done their best to explain to shoppers how Black Friday differs from regular sales periods. The former: systemic large-scale discounting, and, according to Haglöfs, an opportunity for many brands to produce cheap. The latter: a means to reduce stock levels because there are unnecessary items left. It’s not perfect, and so much more can still be done. But anyone who brings awareness to the problem is still doing something right in our book.
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9) DECIEM
- Product: Skincare and beauty
- Campaign: Slowvember
- Region: Worldwide
DECIEM is a family of beauty brands that include NIOD, Hylamide, and The Ordinary. DECIEM is doing something different for Black Friday, which they’ve done for the past six years as a stance against “throwaway culture and shrinkflation”, according to CEO and co-founder Nicola. Black Friday deals typically last about 4 days – this year it begins on the 29th and will likely extend until the early days of December for most brands.
Instead, DECIEM is offering a 23% discount all month long and beyond – it began on November 1st and will go until December 6th. Their message to their buyers is to take their time to consider their purchase and not rush and race into the frenzy of it all, where the pressure to buy on Black Friday is at an all-time high.
So what to do this Black Friday?
With all this blah blah about Black Friday and sustainability, it is easy to forget that the best way to reduce your impact is to buy better and to buy less. But if you just can’t help yourself and need to check out this year’s Black Friday deals, then why not have a peek at some of smaller, local, and sustainable brands, or at least invest in some big ticket items that you will use for years to come.
And don’t forget: if you fancy a massive 126% Black Friday discount on our digital marketing services, plus a free Akepa branded hoodie, then of course get in touch and we’ll sort that out for you with our unmissable Black Friday deal that’s valid for the entire month of November.
Not really.
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