The Black Friday Chaos

Every year the confusion and chaos of Black Friday descends upon the European population, causing lots of frantic and often needless spending – and even, disappointingly, violence. But beneath this more widely reported façade, there is a growing movement away from these impulsive and sometimes damaging behaviours, and towards a much more positive relationship with our lives, our world and all they have to offer.

This is what Green Friday is about!

So rather than being stuck indoors on our phones and laptops, competing for discounts and buying products we don’t necessarily need… let’s join in with the Green Friday ethos! It’s all about:

• Getting active and healthy, having fun and being out in nature
• Spending time with friends and family
• Giving, sharing and investing in others and worthwhile causes

8 Ways to Boycott Black Friday

1. Get outside, anywhere – but in especially in nature. Science shows this is very de-stressing (rather than distressing) and extremely good for our health. Besides, just step outside a little more and who knows who you’ll bump into or what great things it might lead to.

2. Spend time with friends and family Technology and consumerism can easily leave us, and our loved ones, feeling isolated or unfulfilled. This is the perfect time to meet up with your favourite people. And it’ll make you both feel great!

3. Do something nice for someone. It doesn’t have to be anything big or arduous: even smiling at a stranger can make a world of difference to both parties. That said, if you do have some great plans to help someone else in your life – there’s no time like the present.

4. Do something to support a charity, your local community or any good cause. Lots of us have plans, intentions and even whole projects we keep meaning to commit to. Whether it’s volunteering somewhere, gathering those supplies for a local food bank or sharing your skills with someone… giving time to something outside yourself is the best cure for Stagnation Blues! For the very best effects all-round, we recommend something active – donating money is great, but the satisfaction is extremely short-lived.

5. Take time to create something. Have you been meaning to learn to paint, make a new recipe, play an instrument or develop some skill you’ve always admired? Go to it! Maybe there’s an exciting project, invention, innovation or bright idea in you. We humans are truly unique in our ability to create something completely new out of nothing. So take a step back from the day-to-day stuff, find a nice relaxing space, and maybe a fresh sheet of paper – and see what exciting new things you can come up with.

6. Get active. If you’re heading to work or anywhere else – perhaps take the bike or jog. You probably don’t need us to tell you, but it’s nice to be reminded: exercise is incredibly good for us on many levels.

7. Meditate, take up yoga or otherwise invest your health – our number one asset! Science continues to uncover the many layers of goodness which activities like meditation, yoga, pilates and tai chi can offer. These benefits include: clearer thought, improved sleep, better emotional regulation, improved cognition and problem solving and greater creativity. Those some of these activities can take a little willpower and practice to learn, it’s worth remembering that they could also give you heaps of pleasure. Many of these, time-and-science-tested activities are great for increasing mental and physical flexibility, reducing pain and discomfort, calming the central nervous system, improving our mood, posture and outlook and facilitating natural happiness!

8. Raise awareness for Green Friday and its values If you like what you’ve read here, or agree with the overriding themes of Green Friday – spread the word! The more we connect, the greater our potential and impact. And while we have a tendency to underplay it: your simple actions can really make a difference in creating a better world!

From consuming to giving

Green Friday challenges, encourages and aims to excite us to move away from hard-core consumerism. This is something which Black Friday not only exemplifies, but also amplifies in both European and worldwide culture.

Instead of frivolous buying, compulsive taking and even careless spending, the Green Friday movement is all about giving, and investing in things that really matter and make life fulfilling, worthwhile and even beautiful. And of course, this altruistic ethos is not just a material one. The key is to open up more, and to give our time, money, skills, talents and expertise to anyone else who we know may benefit.

From the platform of our individual choices, this philosophy can naturally extend into wider circles.

Companies catching on

In fact, several more eco-conscious companies, charities and other organisations have already started to move away from traditionally commercial Black Friday sales – and encourage people to join the Green Friday movement/campaign.

These range from the donation of discounts to initiating social action, charity schemes and much more. For a full list of all the organisations who have joined the Green Friday movement in Europe and the world, we have posted about a few of these Green Friday supporters here.

Glued to our phones; stuck in technology

A large majority of people are spending more time than ever on their phones. New statistics gathered in the USA have revealed that the average person spends about 5 hours on their smartphone every day.

More broadly speaking, it has recently been found that the average person now spends more time using electronic devices than sleeping.

In short, it’s very easy to pick up the phone… but many of us struggle to put it down (or away) again.

So why is this so important? Well, as many people intuitively know, using technology for large amounts of time poses many health risks and can have a large number of damaging effects on our mind, body, mood and lives.

And on top of the ever-growing list of known health problems this causes, the full scope and severity of our technological habits is still unknown.

Consumerism aside, our increasing technological dependency is a very big issue – and another motivating force for spreading the Green Friday ethos across Europe and the world.

Less Competition – More Cooperation!

While “healthy competition” is rightly praised for its merits, its stark limitations are often overlooked. can, has and continues to run amok on various levels in society. Unchecked, it negatively affects individuals, businesses, our economies, our environment and the overall health, wellbeing and happiness of our precious planet.

Of course, survival and prosperity are essential base-line goals; without them, there can be no livelihood. But profit and prosperity does not have to be at the expense of others – far from it.

In fact, Green Friday is a call for us to shift our narrow focus away from routine, profit and pressures to broaden our organisation’s vision into the future. As more and more organisations begin to pool their resources together in the name of good causes that are societal, holistic, and mutually beneficial to various members of society… we all begin to feel the benefits.

If you’re curious (or already convinced) about the beauty and importance of cooperation across society… here is some!

Disconnect to reconnect

For thousands of years, humans have lived in the cradle of nature. Only recently in human history has this changed – dramatically. Today, more than half of the world’s population now lives in urban areas. Sadly, our environment, work demands and lifestyle habits can easily leave us separated from the things we know make us happier and healthier.

But in a sense, this is nothing new: we know modern living can be stressful and unnatural. Likewise, we all know how good we often feel when keeping active and healthy, spending time outdoors and especially nature.

It is our hope that Green Friday can serve as another reminder to disconnect from our TVs, phones and other technology – and reconnect with all that makes us feel good!

Which way to victory?

So that summarises (more or less) the very broad scope and ambition of Green Friday. Moving forward, the success of this new cultural movement on a national, international and global scale is ultimately governed by one key question:

How do we wish to live our lives?

• Disconnected from people, nature and ourselves… Or alive, vibrant and engaged with our world?
• Chasing desires or settled and contented?
• Striving to stay healthy or letting malaise creep in?
• Letting culture distract us, or choosing to find autonomy, power and purpose in our lives?
• Appreciative of our world, or destroying it?
• Making a difference, or making little change at all?
• Discovering our untapped talents, or letting them wither?
• Remaining static… Or always learning, improving, developing and growing – settling for far less than the very best you can be?
• Limited or limitless?
• In fear, negativity and metaphorical ‘blackness’, or in hope, positivity and the glow of a greener future?

The prospect of success lives only in us – and is awakened only with all of us.

Green means go! Join the movement and spread the word!

If you feel inspired to do something, however big or small, in support of this holistic new movement, please spread the word today! You can like this post and share to your friends on facebook and other social media, or just tell friends about it. Let’s make Black Friday GREEN!

The more we connect and cooperate, the stronger we are. And the stronger we are, the more we can improve and enjoy this beautiful world in which we live!