Black Friday. The annual shopping frenzy where we’re encouraged to snap up deals on things we probably don’t need.

This year, I’m suggesting a new approach: Green Friday.  I’m campaigning  for finding the smarter , greener choices for your business that are easy to do. No grand gestures required, just straightforward swaps that make sense.

Here are five ways to make greener choices without the hassle.

If you’re running a small business, you need a website that works without the technical headaches. Create offers easy-to-use templates that get you up and running quickly.

The sustainability bit: the platform runs on renewable energy from low-carbon data centres. Create also plants trees monthly as part of your hosting plan, offsetting third-party services that aren’t carbon neutral yet. They’ve planted 40,000 trees retrospectively to cover all their team’s work hours before 2020.

The tools are built for efficiency (optimised images, faster load times) which reduces your site’s environmental impact. Decent website hosting that does some good on the side.

Need more flexibility than a template builder? Hostinger does WordPress hosting with good value and plenty of add-ons.

Their European data centres run on renewable energy. They’re working on improving their Power Usage Effectiveness scores and meeting Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact targets.

Fast loading times via their Content Delivery Network, solid support when you need it. Reliable hosting from a company that takes the green stuff seriously.

Insurance. Not exactly thrilling, but necessary. Insure4Nature does something different – they put 100% of profits into UK environmental restoration projects.

Rather than profits going to shareholders, the money goes to nature restoration through wildlife trusts, catchment groups, and water companies. They work with established insurers like Allianz and Covea, so you’re getting proper coverage.

About 10% of your premium funds nature restoration directly. So finally, business insurance works a bit harder than a long lunch in an City restaurant.

Your mobile phone bill is another regular outgoing that could do more. Ecotalk is the first mobile network to put all profits into restoring British nature.

They run on the UK’s fastest network with competitive pricing and a promise your monthly cost won’t go up. The difference is where the money goes: rewilding sites across England, including reintroducing beavers at Bowyers Wood in Sussex and restoring ancient woodland in Gloucestershire. Chris Packham is their Chief Ecologist.

They also push customers to keep phones longer and buy refurbished when upgrading, which cuts down on manufacturing impact.

Same mobile service, money going to actual conservation projects.

Ship products? You need packaging. SR Mailing does eco-friendly packaging for e-commerce (recycled mailing bags, compostable options, the works).

Based in Manchester, they know plastic waste is a problem and they’re trying to fix it. Mailing bags from 100% recycled plastic, certified under the Global Recycled Standard. Compostable bags from plant materials. Paper-padded envelopes and honeycomb wrap instead of bubble wrap.

They’ve helped 9,000+ e-commerce businesses switch to sustainable packaging and offset over 570,000 kg of carbon through wind energy projects. Target is zero-waste by considering the full lifecycle from raw materials to disposal.

With next-day delivery and competitive prices. This is a straightforward switch.

Yes, DYU is doing Black Friday deals (nobody’s perfect), but if you’re looking at cutting commute emissions, an e-bike makes sense.

E-bikes produce 90% fewer emissions per kilometre than cars for short journeys. DYU does compact, foldable models that work for city commuting (easy to store in small spaces or take on public transport).

The Black Friday bit isn’t want we’re supporting, granted. But businesses need to do business, even those selling sustainable products and a greener commute is a greener commute.

Green Business Services: Make the Switch

Green Friday isn’t about being perfect. It’s about making better choices when you can, with stuff that fits into how you already work.

Switching website hosting, picking insurance that funds nature projects, using recyclable packaging, these are practical changes. They support your business and they’re better for the environment. It’s not complicated.

The companies here are genuinely committed to sustainability, not just talking about it. And are worth considering any time you’re reviewing suppliers, not just Green Friday.

Alison Prangnell runs The Marketing Maven, using over 25 year’s experience to help UK SMEs with optimising their marketing to grow their business.