Tired of Black Friday? Leave your wallet at home and get outside!
Not interested in joining hordes of people clamoring for Black Friday door-crasher deals? You have options!
Black Friday’s excessive consumerism is not for everyone and thankfully, there are many counter-movements to put your energy (and money) towards.
This year we are highlighting Green Friday for the first time! We are encouraging Copernicans to take a break and go for a walk on our trail network, try repairing something to make it new again, or borrow from our employee Lending Library—anything but buying more new STUFF!
Mark your calendars and celebrate anything BUT Black Friday:
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November 18
Green Friday:
A day for mindful, sustainable shopping or none at all (more on this below).
November 25
Buy Nothing Day:
This one is easy and the name says it all!
November 26
Small Business Saturday:
A day to support small retailers instead of the big box stores.
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November 29
Giving Tuesday:
Instead of Black Friday or Cyber Monday, donate towards causes that matter most to you.
Get outside instead
Green Friday offers a few different ways to celebrate. For shoppers, it is a day to make more mindful purchases (rather than impulse buys) and choose items that are sustainably made. For others, it is a day to keep your credit card at home, get outdoors and enjoy nature with friends and family.
How others have marked the day
Here’s how a few others mark the day:
- Last year, IKEA promoted their Sell-Back program (customers can apply to sell their gently-used IKEA products for in-store credit) and their Circular Hub (As-is) online marketplace of discontinued and ex-showroom displays.
- REI, an outdoor lifestyle retailer, closed its doors on Black Friday and gave all its employees a paid day off to get out in nature, and started #OptOutside.
- Many state parks offer free passes on Black Friday or are promoting the outdoors instead of shopping, like Colorado State Parks, that call the day #FreshAirFriday.
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Why do we dig Green Friday?
As a company that is working towards becoming more environmentally and socially responsible, we are happy to see a movement like Green Friday come along. The day aligns with our nature-based initiatives and many causes we support that help protect nature.
And, from a consumerism perspective, it ties into our Free Repair Parts Program and Lifetime Warranty we offer educators. Simply keeping something in tip-top shape longer, instead of buying new, has a positive impact on the environment, unlike Black Friday’s mass overconsumption that inevitably leads to waste.
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Repairing versus new:
Between 2020-2021, we provided repair parts for 116 easels and carts, with the majority of them being free. Keeping them in use and out of the landfill prevented approximately 6.2 Mt of CO2e from going into the atmosphere. That is the equivalent of driving 15,390 miles or 24,767 km in an average gasoline-powered vehicle!
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So, what are you doing on Green Friday? We want to hear from you!
Share your plans with us by tagging us on social (Instagram @copernicuseducationalproducts, Twitter @copernicused, Facebook @copernicused) and following along using #CEPGreenFriday.
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