Save the Amazon this Black Friday: Shop and plant trees in Peru

Black Friday season is upon us. While you won’t find any mega sales and pushy marketing messages over here, we didn’t want the weekend to slide by without a mention either. So, in typical Social Supermarket fashion, we’re using it as an excuse to create some extra impact – with your help, if you’re up for it. 

Shop with us during the Black Friday sales and help save a piece of the Amazon, one of the most important patchworks of habitat on Earth. Preserving the mammoth rainforest, which holds an estimated 90 to 140 billion metric tons of carbon, is crucial in the fight against climate change. 

Through a partnership with One Tree Planted, we’ll be planting trees and restoring forest in a corner of the Peruvian Amazon. A tree will be planted for every order placed on our marketplace over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend, from 25th to 28th November. 

Turning Black Friday green

With the twinkly fairy lights of Christmas just around the corner, there’s no denying Black Friday is a time when we’ve all got shopping and saving money on the brain. But the excessive consumption it drives can feel a little soulless, to say the least. The sales also tend to attract people to bigger brands, rather than indie, ethical sellers with fair and sustainable supply chains. 

If you’re a regular around here, it won’t surprise you that this doesn’t really vibe with our values. (If you don’t know us well yet, get to know our mission.) Instead, we love the idea of turning the weekend into something greener and more thoughtful. A time to get your shopping done and feel good about it. 

We’re not the only ones doing Black Friday differently, fyi. The #ShopEthicalInstead movement is all about making ethical shopping an easy and appealing alternative to the usual Black Friday shenanigans. We’re delighted to be a part of it, in good company with fellow do-good businesses. 

In that same spirit of collaboration (one of our fave things about the social enterprise community), teaming up with a non-profit this Black Friday felt natural for us, following on from last year’s collab with The Earth Issue. 

The problem with some tree planting promises

Deciding to run a tree planting campaign meant putting some careful consideration into choosing who to partner with. As you may already know, not all tree planting schemes are created equal. And those that get it wrong can do more environmental damage than good in the long run. 

Trees are essential for the health of our planet, from absorbing carbon dioxide to providing habitat for wildlife. And reforestation is much needed as more and more of our existing forests are decimated. 

But planting a bunch of new trees isn’t a straightforward win for tackling climate change. It can take saplings 10 years to become a carbon sink – that’s a long time in a world that’s heating up fast. And they’ll only reach that point if properly managed in the years after planting, to ensure they survive and grow into healthy woodland.

Another issue is planting the right trees in the right place, to protect biodiversity. Monocrop forests come with all kinds of issues, like degraded soil, and absorb much less carbon than diverse forests. Meanwhile, planting trees that don’t fit in with existing woodland can disrupt and harm delicate ecosystems. 

So when it comes to promoting a tree planting programme as a way to offset emissions or boost eco credentials, there is big potential for greenwashing, even if unintentional.  

Why we’ve partnered with One Tree Planted 

What makes a good tree planting programme, then? Our pals at One Tree Planted get it right. Their reforestation work protects animal habitat, supports local farmers, creates jobs and restores soil health. 

One Tree Planted’s projects are always based in places affected by deforestation or natural disasters (i.e. not a random patch of land) and are a partnership with local people. The team works with the community on everything from preparing the land, to planting the trees, to ongoing maintenance and monitoring of the area. These definitely aren’t trees that will be haphazardly planted and forgotten about.

By improving knowledge of forest management practices among local communities, they’re also ensuring the trees are taken care of for many generations to come. And helping establish agroforestry as a source of sustainable livelihoods too. 

Speaking about teaming up for this Black Friday campaign, Ashley Lamontagne, Forest Campaign Manager at One Tree Planted, has said, “We are excited about this partnership with Social Supermarket, which will help us to get more trees in the ground in regions where they are needed most. The trees planted as a result of this project will have positive impacts on nature, biodiversity and people for years to come.” 

Ucayali, Peru: Where you’ll help plant trees

The Amazon rainforest plays a critical role in the fight against climate change. But sadly, it’s a high risk zone for deforestation and degradation. One Tree Planted’s Amazonian projects are helping fight back against logging, unsustainable agriculture and forest fires. 

Your Black Friday buys from us will support One Tree Planted’s work in Ucayali, a region of Peru. The planting will be carried out in four native communities of the Shipibo Conibo ethnic group, located in the Calleria district of the Colonel Portillo province.

Together with the local community, One Tree Planted will be restoring forest in the area and ensuring it becomes self-sustaining and resilient, to accelerate the recovery of biodiversity. 258 local families in Ucayali will benefit from improved socio-economic conditions through the project, including jobs for 600 men and 300 women.

Shop and plant trees

Everything in our marketplace will help plant trees in the Amazon this Black Friday weekend. Whether you’re starting your Christmas shopping, topping up on home essentials or buying something you’ve had your eye on for a while – now’s the time to do it, with greater impact. 

Show off what you buy (obvs keep the Christmas gifts secret!) and help us save more rainforest by spreading the word about the campaign on social media. Tag us on Instagram and Twitter and use the hashtag #ShopEthicalInstead. 

Discover ethical Christmas finds and plant trees with the help of our ultimate Christmas gift guide