Let’s paint Black Friday into Green

Green Friday is a less known relative of the Black Friday. Black Friday is one of the best friends of mass consumption, the most significant contributor to excessive purchasing of unnecessary items, perfectly tailored to fit the way modern societies learned to live.

People are unconsciously getting into this trap, not knowing the consequences of their behavior on the environment and pollution. Habits are hard to change and this is the one we don’t talk about enough.

We cannot blame companies either. Most of them are still unaware of the seriousness of the problem we are all facing. Fortunately, there are others who consider our environment an integral part of their corporate values. These companies vowed to turn Black Friday into a Green one.

IKEA is one of those companies.

For some, small steps seem to be not enough, but in IKEA, they adopt a different approach. They believe all of us can make a difference, all of us can do our part of the job and help the planet live and economy to circle. They believe that everyone can live more sustainably at home.

What is Green Friday?

IKEA has been “green” for some time already, and the campaign “Green Friday” is not the first step toward circularity they have made. Years ago, they set up their vision and decided to become a sustainability and circularity leader in their field and managed to do it.

One way to do so is to use more natural materials, and in IKEA, they took it seriously. They sell pieces of furniture made entirely of wood at a very affordable price. The wood is often not painted, and a buyer can decide about the color and other possible changes. Furniture can be easily redesigned later. Except for using natural and recyclable materials, IKEA gives more opportunities for its consumers. When you get bored with your bed and want a change, you can paint it or engrave something. This is not possible to do with furniture made of other materials like MDF.

And the cycle does not stop to spin there. Even if you feel that there is nothing you could do with your furniture to adjust it to your needs, IKEA has a solution for you. That is where “Green Friday” jumps in. During “Green Friday,” IKEA is buying out the old IKEA pieces of furniture from its customers and giving them vouchers.

Why is IKEA choosing Green Friday instead of Black?

In this way, IKEA is obtaining resources that can be used in the production of new objects. And they have got that chance because of the innovative and more sustainable product design.

Product design is one of the critical features of the circular economy, and it is what actually makes the economy circle. The way products are designed dominantly determines what will be their environmental impact. IKEA carefully designs its products while taking care of the quality and recyclability of the materials they use. Besides, they are trying to use resources sustainably and as much energy as possible from renewable sources.

Except being responsible themselves, in IKEA they try to teach their customers to be accountable and offer them a wide range of products. Some of them intend to reduce unnecessary consumption of water and electricity. Others make it possible for everybody to try out composting their organic waste and take care of other waste they make while helping them save some money. They offer greener products in practically every aspect of our daily lives, from food consumption to shopping bags and containers and from clothes to furniture.

More importantly, as a strong and well-known company, they set an example for others and form a path that hopefully many others will follow.

IKEA is playing a game where all the players are the winners and sending a strong message that we need to create more games like this one is. Go on a circular journey with us and learn how to do so.

Let us know which color you would like Friday to be, Black or Green, and why?