We may be in the throws of the Black Friday weekend, but not everyone is as keen as you might think to get in on the sales event.

Many people feel some retailers inflate their prices in the months leading up to Black Friday to make it look like the "sale" price is much better. In reality it's near the actual RRP, or even some times, higher. In fact, consumer group Which? carried out a study which found that 98% of prices Black Friday sale prices in 2021 were cheaper or the same price at other times in the year.

This especially rings true this year, during the cost of living crisis as many people are still suffering the financial effects of the pandemic and bills steadily continue to increase.

Enter the newer initiatives which started out as a more positive response to Black Friday's consuming ethos: Green Friday and Giving Tuesday. Both have threads of activism running through them and prioritise sustainability and philanthropy.

What is Green Friday ?

The organisation Green Friday aims to counteract what it calls "needless spending" that goes hand in hand with Black Friday, as some prices that look too good to be true lure impulsive buyers in.

It wants to move "towards a much more positive relationship with our lives, our world and all they have to offer" and it challenges us "to move away from hard-core consumerism", which it feels Black Friday exemplifies.

The organisation gives a really positive spin to contrast the event, and says on its website that it "inspires millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity." It suggests that individuals, companies and retailers can take part by donating or initiating social action, charity schemes and much more.

It wants people to step away from their phones and laptops looking for a deal, and instead invest time in family, friends, meditation, nature – literally anything else. It also suggests using the weekend to spread the word about Green Friday, and turn the tide green.

What is Giving Tuesday?

Taking place on Tuesday 29 November, the day after the sale's final day, Cyber Monday, it came to life in 2012 in the US and has a UK arm too. The idea here is to give back, which was a direct response to buying and consuming more and more.

In the decade since the movement started, it's grown legs and spread around the world and calls itself a "global day of generosity", which we find pretty uplifting. It encourages indidivudals, charities and businesses to get involved to by donating money, starting a campaign and of course, raising awareness.

Brands giving back on Black Friday weekend

RIXO has decided not to take part in Black Friday this year.

The female founders, Henrietta Rix and Orlagh McCloskey, said that as they don't have any investors, they're able to take these decisions themselves.

The pair said: "We have re-aligned with our values and won’t follow mass consumer trends and be forced into markdowns. We haven’t increased our prices, even though inflation and our cost across the board have creeped up, we are taking the hit as we believe in offering our customer, you, true value for money. As part of our ongoing sustainability journey, we only produce limited runs of the special things customers treasure for years to come.” Instead, on Giving Tuesday, for every transaction, RIXO will donate £15 to Women For Women International, a charity supporting women in some of the world’s most dangerous places, helping them learn marketable job skills to rebuild their lives, on their terms.

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The Australian born, London based brand Hush is also shunning the traditional Black Friday discounts.

Instead, it will be launching its "buy one, give one" initiative, which last year raised more than £50,000.

To do this, hush will once again be partnering with Crisis, to support the charity’s ongoing mission to end homelessness. This means for every product bought online at hush-uk.com on Friday 25 November, hush will donate an item of clothing to Crisis, to either be distributed directly to its members experiencing homelessness, or to be sold in one of the charity’s UK stores.

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Women's workwear brand DAI is also swapping any Black Friday discounts to continue its partnership with Smart Works for a third year running, which helps dress and coach women for career success, as it believes in the power of clothes and coaching to transform woman's confidence.

For every order placed during the Black Friday weekend up toGiving Tuesday, DAI will be donating a piece of DAI clothing to Smart Works.

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Wolf & Moon jewellers hasn't participated in the Black Friday sales for the past two years, but had felt pressure to do so this year. Instead of caving in to it, Wold & Moon decided to continue as it had, and avoid discounting.

The independent brand said that sales have a huge knock on effect for the team, and Black Friday often encourages waste as people buy things they don't really want. And with the cost of living crisis affecting businesses too, they can't afford a sale.

Instead, for its alternative Black Friday, it will be donating 10% of net sales to two charities, Fareshare which prevents food waste and Mermaids charity which supports non-binary, gender diverse and trans children.

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Instead of reducing prices inline with the usual Black Friday offering, independent jewellery brand, Pearls & Pomegranates, which sells sustainable and ethical pieces, will be running a charity auction.

The event will be in support of The Felix Project. Jewellers are donating pieces that will then be auctioned and all proceeds will be donated to the charity. This way customers can still get jewellery at a lower price point, but it is in service of something good.

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One of our favourite high street beauty brands, Rituals, started its Green Friday week on 21 Monday.

Instead of offering a discount on new products, Rituals will be giving eco-minded customers 20% off its refills in a bid to encourage more people to avoid buying brand new products each time they run out, which saves an awful lot of packaging.

As well as this, the brand will also plant, protect or restore a tree for every refill bought.

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For the third year running, Baukjen will be partnering with Smart Works charity.

The B Corp sustainable fashion house will donate an item of Baukjen clothing to Smart Works for every customer order placed over the Black Friday weekend, from 25-28 November. It will still offer a 20% discount sitewide though. This isn't Baukjen's only form of donation though, as it already donate at least 10% of its annual profits to charity and caring for people and the planet play a huge part in the slow fashion company’s ethos.

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This year £20 from every ME+EM order up until Cyber Monday will be donated to The Prince's Trust to help support its invaluable work with young people, as now they are almost five times more likely to be unemployed than any other age group since the pandemic.

£10 of this will come directly from ME+EM, while the other half will be matched by one of its brand ambassadors.

ME+EM's founder, Clare Hornby said: "I am proud to be have recently been made an ambassador for The Prince's Trust's Women Supporting Women initiative which aims to nurture, empower and inspire young women to build their own futures through employment, self-employment, education or training."

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