Black Friday – the day that many consumers look forward to all year. The day when your social media feeds fill up with offer upon offer encouraging you to buy more by spending less. The day we see images of people trampling over each other to get the latest flatscreen TV. The day last year when 1.4 million people went into debt just so they could buy something, anything.

While I’m only human and experience desire just like everyone else, there’s something about Black Friday that seems so sad – people shopping just for the sake of it, buying things they don’t need just because they are cheap. Turning a blind eye to what ‘cheap’ really means for the world and the people at the beginning of the chain of production. Acquiring more stuff that is poorly made, doesn’t last or function properly and quickly ends up as landfill.

Here at Aerende, we care about consequences and we don’t want to feel sad. We’re in the business of spreading happiness. So we’ve come up with the BEST BLACK FRIDAY DEAL EVER.

For every order made, Aerende is offering:

• Beautiful, original products with provenance and style
• Stylish compostable packaging
• Materials that are long-lasting and pesticide free
• Lovely working conditions for all employees
• A fair rate paid for every product
• A living wage for all of our paid makers*
• A feel-good glow from shopping independent and supporting marginalised craftspeople from around the UK

And the best thing about this amazing deal? We’re offering it ALL YEAR ROUND.

We won’t be offering money off this weekend because the value of our collection doesn’t suddenly go down on Friday. We don’t want our makers to feel that people value their work more if it comes with a discount tag attached. Aerende operates with tiny margins and is a non-profit, which means all the money we make goes back in to the business, to our makers and the charities and social enterprises that support them. We think the Thanksgiving weekend should be about giving back, not taking. So, while we’d love to see you on the store, buying just the things you need (or the gift that will last a lifetime), we’re going to be taking a break. Eating pecan pie. And giving thanks that we get to do it all.

*Some of our makers are volunteers at their charities (please ask if you want to know more about this. Good brands are never afraid of their customers asking questions)

** The notebook in the picture is made by our friends at Bound By Veterans, a craft-based training and employment charity for wounded, injured and sick Veterans. They’re taking a little break right now but we hope to stock their products in the new year.