Five unexpected Black Friday deals you may have missed

Australians are tipped to spend $6.2 billion over the busy Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping bonanzas, with the events now firmly cemented in the country’s retail calendar.

But with email inboxes and Instagram feeds around the country currently overloaded with Black Friday offers, you may have missed the more novel — and sustainable — offers from local retailers.

Here’s a quick look at five weird and wonderful approaches to Black Friday from Australian brands.

‘Sponsor’ rubbish with Smart50 winner Zero Co

Fresh from building a pyramid out of rubbish in the Egyptian desert, Aussie eco-friendly cleaning and body care brand Zero Co is back with another novel idea.

The winner of this year’s Smart50 Rising Star Award is saying no to “flashy sales” and “one-time discounts” this Black Friday and instead giving punters the chance to ‘sponsor’ a bundle of rubbish, for as little as $20.

For that price of admission, Zero Co promises to pull 300 water bottles worth of rubbish out of the natural environment on shoppers’ behalf and fund future cleanup projects around the world. Those who want to extend their sponsorship further can purchase bundles worth $50 and $100 too.

Zero Co founder Mike Smith describes Black Friday as “excess consumerism at a moment in time when the planet’s fragile eco-system is approaching breaking point”.

“As an entrepreneur, I have responsibilities that far exceed profitability. Making sure future generations inherit a liveable planet is priority number one,” he said in comments to SmartCompany.

Source: supplied.

Plant trees with Elk

Melbourne-founded fashion brand Elk is getting back to nature this Black Friday, offering free native Australian seedlings to customers at its four retail outlets in celebration of ‘Forest Friday’.

The sustainability-focused brand is also doubling its donations to TreeProject for every purchase made today in-store and online, which will equate to two seedlings being planted on behalf of each customer.

“We are committed to reducing the impact Elk has on the planet so together, we can help TreeProject grow a greener, more sustainable future,” said Elk co-founder Marnie Goding.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ClVOHL5jaAU/

Go on a scavenger hunt with Adore Beauty

Pure-play online retailer Adore Beauty is venturing into the physical world, inviting its social media followers to join a Cyber Weekend scavenger hunt across Melbourne on Friday to find $5000 worth of prizes.

The giveaway will likely go some way to promoting the retailer’s Black Friday discounts, which include up to 30% off more than 115 brands.

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Pay 50% more with Ecosium

Discounts of 50% are not uncommon during Black Friday sales, but sustainable furniture company Ecosium is flipping this one on its head and instead adding a 50% surcharge on orders placed during the sales event.

Ecosium and its founder Luke Hopkins are encouraging customers to avoid making impulsive purchases.

“Shoppers don’t often think about the finite resources used to create the plastics and metals, or the emissions produced during manufacturing and transport, nor the toxicity of these products once they reach the end of their life span,” he said.

Read more here.

Embrace the Green Friday movement

Aussie shoppers also likely found special offers from more retailers of sustainable and ethically produced products in the lead-up to this year’s Black Friday sales, with some 150 homegrown businesses joining the Green Friday initiative instead.

This included the likes of King Living, Felix Mobile, Appliances Online, Camilla, Flora & Fauna, Hype DC, Salvo Stores, Pottery for the Planet and Seed & Sprout.

Green Friday was founded in 2021 and this year involved four days of promotions, from November, to encourage Australians to ditch the frenzy of Black Friday in favour of more mindful and considerate online shopping.

Read more here.