Ethical jeweller Lily Arkwright donates profits from Black Friday to UNICEF.

Black Friday is a busy and exciting time of year for businesses and consumers; however, the notorious overconsumption during this period has come under criticism in recent years for its impact on the environment.

Lily Arkwright specialises in lab-grown diamonds—real diamonds, grown in controlled conditions that are chemically and structurally identical to mined diamonds but with better ethical and environmental credentials. Priding themselves on their ethical choices, Lily Arkwright has decided that instead of offering artificial discounts and driving consumerism and environmental destruction, they are committing to helping those most in need on black friday.

For the fifth consecutive year, Lily Arkwright has donated 5% of profits generated on Black Friday to UNICEF. UNICEF tirelessly dedicates its work to constructing a better world for every child, every day, and across all regions. Their initiatives aim to provide more children with clean water, life-saving food, vaccines, education, and protection from violence.

By donating a portion of their profits to a charity like UNICEF, Lily Arkwright hopes to encourage consumers to think about the impact of overconsumption and, more importantly, challenges businesses to examine their contribution to the overall health of the planet and its people.

Lily Arkwright hopes to see this caring approach to Black Friday being adopted increasingly by other retailers in the coming years as they begin to accept their social responsibility. Kate Munns, the operations manager at Lily Arkwright, has said, ‘At Lily Arkwright, care and respect are integral to how we operate—this is a defining thread that runs through our interactions with valued customers to how we choose to mark significant days like Black Friday.’

Will more companies step up to the challenge and start using Black Friday as an opportunity to give back? We hope so!