How to have an eco-friendly Black Friday

While cost-of-living pressures make these deals hard to ignore, it’s important to remember that those discounts do come at a cost – often lining the pockets of those who are already extremely wealthy and no friend to the environment. For example, Amazon makes huge profits during Black Friday, but gets away with paying very little tax due to shifting money into tax-haven Luxembourg.

Additionally, these heavily discounted products are often sold online, which leads to an increase in deliveries and a resulting increase in CO2 emissions from storing and transporting goods.

And the impact doesn’t stop there. Up to 80% of items bought on Black Friday end up in landfill, generating masses of waste every single year. In the US, waste increases by 25% between Black Friday and the New Year, but it doesn’t have to be this way. There are better ways to shop, spend and save that don’t cost the Earth.

A few brands forgo Black Friday and instead opt for Green Friday. Some donate Black Friday profits to environmentally-focused charity whereas others suggest that the best Black Friday deal for the environment is considering how necessary your purchases are and what can be done with the things you already own.

At Good Energy, we’re taking a similar approach this year, offering sustainable Black Friday deals that help you lower your home’s environmental impact:

• Free hot water for a year when you install a heat pump*
• 2 free solar panels when you buy 8 or more**

Terms and conditions apply.

Reduce delivery emissions by hopping on your bike or the bus to visit the small, independent businesses on your local high street this Black Friday. The discounts may not be as big as those you’ll find from the chains, but you’ll be supporting your community and spending where it makes a difference.

Shopping in person also gives you a chance to make more conscious choices: see the quality of what you’re buying, connect with the people behind the products, and enjoy the experience of shopping locally rather than scrolling online. Every purchase made close to home helps keep local economies thriving and reduces the hidden carbon costs of mass delivery and returns.

Luckily, there are many great ways to shop second-hand and save something from going to landfill. Vinted and Depop have lots of clothes from popular brands, many hardly worn.

What’s more, this year Vinted has expanded beyond fashion too – with furniture, books and tech now available, and charities like Oxfam have a wide range of items available on their websites and in-store.

You could also list your own unused items on these sites too and contribute to creating a circular economy. Not only is it a smart way to declutter, it’s a significantly more sustainable choice than “returning” unwanted or ill-fitting items when it comes to big retailers – a process which generates 5 billion pounds of waste in landfill every year.

Black Friday has become synonymous with big-ticket items, glossy upgrades, and the promise of something sleeker or faster – but that pressure to stay up to date comes at a cost, both financial and environmental.

Thankfully, there are lots of options to buy refurbished electronics these days – not only is this cheaper but it reduces the impact of electronic waste (estimated at 57.4 million tonnes in 2021) on our environment. You can still get many of the latest models in good condition on sites like Black Market and Envirofone, often with warranties and performance guarantees for peace of mind.

If you want to buy new, consider the repairability of the device you choose. Devices that are easily repairable will have a longer lifespan than devices that haven’t been designed with repairs in mind.

There’s always the good old-fashioned approach to Black Friday too – repairing and borrowing. You can learn a lot about repairing your favourite jeans from experts on YouTube and there are still plenty of businesses out there who can repair damaged phone screens, dodgy dishwashers, and slow laptops.

Borrow shops – sometimes called a ‘library of things’ – are popping up in more cities too. They’re easy to use and ideal for getting hold of things you may not use too often for an affordable daily fee. After all, why pay lots of money for something you rarely use when you can get it when you need it for a fraction of the price?