Yesterday, Friday November 23, was North American Buy Nothing Day. It’s a day when we’re all encouraged to step back, take a deep breath, and take a serious look at the implications of our rampant consumerism. After all, almost all environmental problems can be traced back to two main causes, population pressures and consumerism, and the only real solution to many of these problems comes down to consuming less.
Green Party Leader Elizabeth May has been promoting Buy Nothing Day, as an opportunity for people to reflect that quality of life is not defined by quantity of stuff.
I will admit, I was in the Eaton Centre Apple Store yesterday and was sorely tempted by a couple of sales on their One Day Sales Event. But I held my ground, and all I ended up buying was Mollie’s and my postponed anniversary dinner, but I don’t see that as a product so much as a service so I think I was in the spirit of things. (Barberian’s serves up an excellent meal, by the way.)
So, did you buy anything yesterday?
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This isn’t such a big deal for Canadian shoppers but, the Friday after U.S. Thanksgiving is the BIGGEST shopping day in the states! Doubtless this is the reason for selecting this day in the first place, as a means to counteract the largest annual consumer orgy in existence.
If “Buy Nothing Day” ever caught on just a little bit, you can bet that the American retail lobby would come out firing with both barrels. Buy Nothing practitioners would be condemned as everything from “tree-hugging commies” to “enemies of America!”
If you don’t shop the Thanksgiving sales, Al-Qaeda wins!