How to Turn Black Friday into Green Friday

The day after Thanksgiving is often called Black Friday. The ostensible reason for this moniker is that many companies move from being in the red financially to being in the black. The start of the holiday shopping season is hailed as the salvation of many retailers. But with the recent Occupy movements and the earlier Tea Party protests, it's clear that there is wide dissatisfaction with the status quo.

So today and this holiday season, I challenge you to use your money ethically. Spend where you know the employees are being treated with respect. Buy items that don't damage the world. Purchase using financial institutions that aren't using bailout money to pay huge bonuses to executives. Do a bit of research before you decide to buy and discover what your money is funding.

If you don't want business that abuse people, don't give them your money. If you don't want banks that take bailouts, don't give them your money.

When the flashy ads come on your television and entice you to buy inexpensive gifts for your family, pause. Think about how the products are affecting not only your family, but the people who made them and the people who sold them to you. We're all in this together and we can make a difference together.

Here's a list of the most ethical companies in 2011 and you can use buying guides to evaluate the products you consume.

The Ethisphere list (linked above) is copied below:

2011 WORLD’S MOST ETHICAL COMPANIES:

Aerospace Indra Sistemas Rockwell Collins Inc. The Aerospace Corporation	Apparel Adidas Comme Il Faut Gap Patagonia Timberland
Auctions eBay	Automotive Cummins Denso Ford Motor Company Johnson Controls
Banking Australia and New Zealand Banking Group National Australia Bank Rabobank Standard Chartered Bank The Westpac Group	Business Services Accenture Dun & Bradstreet Noblis
Chemicals Ecolab JM Huber	Computer Hardware Hitachi Data Systems
Computer Software Adobe Systems Microsoft Salesforce.com Symantec Corporation Teradata Corporation	Construction and Engineering CRH Granite Construction Parsons Corporation
Consumer Electronics Electrolux Ricoh Xerox	Consumer Products Colgate-Palmolive Company Henkel AG Kao Corporation
Diversified Industries General Electric Co.	Electronics and Semiconductors Freescale Semiconductor Premier Farnell Texas Instruments
Energy and Utilities Encana Statoil NextEra Energy, Inc. Northumbrian Water Vestas Wind Wisconsin Energy Corporation	Engineering and Design AECOM Technology Corporation CH2M Hill Fluor Corporation
Environmental Services Waste Management	Financial Services American Express Housing Development Finance Corp NYSE Euronext The Hartford Financial Services Group
Food and Beverage General Mills PepsiCo Solae Stonyfield Farm	Food Stores Kesko The Co-Operative Group Wegmans Whole Food Market
Forestry, Paper and Packaging International Paper Stora Enso Oyj SCA	Health and Beauty Natura Cosmeticos
Healthcare Services Baptist Health South Florida Hospital Corporation of America Premier	Hotels, Travel and Hospitality Kimpton Hotels Marriott International The Rezidor Hotel Group Wyndham Worldwide
Industrial Manufacturing Caterpillar Deere & Company Eaton Corporation Milliken & Company Schneider Electric	Insurance Aflac Incorporated Sompo Japan Insurance Swiss Re Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Co.
Internet Zappos	Media, Publishing and Entertainment Thomson Reuters
Medical Devices Becton Dickinson Royal Phillips	Metals Umicore
Real Estate British Land plc Jones Lang LaSalle Unibail-Rodamco	Restaurants and Cafes Starbucks Coffee Company
Specialty Pharma Medicis	Specialty Retail Best Buy Co. Hennes & Mauritz Sonae Target Ten Thousand Villages
Staffing Manpower	Telecom Hardware Avaya Inc. Cisco Systems Juniper Networks
Telecom Services Singapore Telecom Swisscom T-Mobile USA	Transportation and Logistics Autoridad del Canal de Panama East Japan Railway Company Nippon Yusen Kabushi Kaisha UPS