Don't Forget about Buy Nothing Day
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 11.20.07
With all the hype about Thanksgiving, one can lose track of Buy Nothing Day, Friday in the States and Saturday in the rest of the world. "Timed to coincide with one of the busiest shopping days on the US retail calendar, as well as the unofficial start of the international holiday-shopping season, Buy Nothing Day has taken many shapes, from relaxed family outings, to free, non-commercial street parties, to politically charged public protests. Anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending."
While everyone else is chasing the sales on Black Friday, You could relax and, well, buy nothing. As Kalle says on the Buy Nothing site:
"Driving hybrid cars and limiting industrial emissions is great‚ but they are band–aid solutions if we don’t address the core problem: we have to consume less. This is the message of Buy Nothing Day."
Others worry about the message. My first reaction was "nice idea, if you don't work in a shop." We have noted earlier that we like promoting eco-retailers and designers who need customers, not boycotts. Two years ago we discussed it here and repeat a few ideas:
Warren: 'Buy Nothing Day' is about rampant consumption of over packaged, blister wrapped rubbish. We should not be one dimensional about this.
Which is better for the planet?
A. for one day nobody buys anything (next day they hop in the car and head off to the mall as normal) or
B. Everybody buys a bicycle on that day.
Lloyd: we expand the message: Buy Nothing Day(ngerous to the planet)
- buy something from a thift store - unwrapped, preloved
- buy a subscription to CSA organic produce box
- buy membership to a car share network
- buy local
- buy organic, recycled, non toxic, reused, durable, functional
- buy carbon credits for the family's travel for the past or upcoming year
- buy solar panels
- buy a composting toilet
Erin: Black Friday is also an important day for our eco-gift maker friends. The holidays is the time when they get to show their stuff and make the money they need to get through another year of competing in this crazy Walmarket. We have put a lot of energy into the gift guide and so have the awesome vendors who sent us stuff to help promote eco-friendly holidays to the press. I think they deserve our support this time of year, with gift guides and other promotion that we can offer. ::Buy Nothing Day
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good ideas
so many things you can think without shoping
Dumb idea. Someone is always going to buy something. Even buying something from a thrift store is consumer spending. Maybe if the phrase wasn't so misleading.
It's just kind of dumb to put it on Black Friday. It's a great way to not get people to participate. I thought it was a great idea, but Black Friday is the day I was planning to go to a local environmental department store and pick out a sustainable floor for my kitchen. And if I can't do it that day, then my family will force me into buying one that isn't sustainable. And I can't live another decade with a vinyl floor!
So it's really just bad planning on the part of the people behind Buy Nothing Day. If they wanted to get moderates involved and not just the fringe of the anti-consumerism and environmental movements, they shouldn't have made it on Black Friday.
I don't think its a dumb idea. It just happens to be inconvenient for you. Could there be a better day to spread the message about buying nothing, than a day when everybody is out buying something? What's the point of dressing up like a zombie and wandering the mall, or pulling disruptive walmart shennanigins, if there is nobody there to see it? Thats the idea... Maximum exposure.
I'm with Lloyd. When outlet malls are opening at midnight to cater to the hoards of consumers in search of a "deal", there's something seriously wrong. I wrote about it here.
I think buy nothing day is a bit overdoing it. People will always want to consume, and they would rather consume cheaply rather than costly. If you need that new laptop, you would prefer to buy it on Black Friday rather than not. Instead of buy nothing day, we should promote buy eco-friendly Day. Thus, when people buy, they will at least remember to keep it environmentally friendly, especially on Black Friday, where people are more prone to buy than not. So, get the eco-friendly laptop that's EPEAT gold, or get a refurbished one.
Oh thats just great Nov 23rd is my Birthday! Thanks alot! lol :-)