Tomorrow, Friday November 23rd, is Buy Nothing Day in North America.
What that is: “Buy Nothing Day is an informal day of protest against consumerism observed by social activists. In 2007, Buy Nothing Day falls on November 23rd in North America and November 24th internationally. It was founded by Vancouver artist Ted Dave and subsequently promoted by the Canadian Adbusters magazine.”
Adbusters themselves explained the motivation for Buy Nothing Day concisely in last year’s bulletin: “Recycling, protecting our waterways, driving hybrid cars — all the old environmental imperatives — are great, but it’s becoming obvious that they don’t address the core problem: we have to change our lifestyles, we have to change our culture, and we have to consume smarter and consume less.”
I appreciate the inclusion of the idea that we need to “consume smarter”.
Having observed this day for a few years, I know all about the challenges you get from friends, coworkers and family. From “how am I supposed to get to work if I can’t buy tokens?” to “how are we supposed to eat if we can’t buy groceries for dinner?”. Which, hand to the Sky Bully, are the sort of questions I have been asked. Questions which miss the point. The point of Buy Nothing Day is to, for one 24-hour span a year, make conscious an activity which has become at once unconscious and an end in itself.
Buy Nothing Day doesn’t mean you have to fast, or avoid public transit (quite the opposite of the latter I think). It means you take a day to think about your small day-to-day purchases (e.g. trips to Starbucks), your planned big purchases, and where and how you purchase generally. To consider these things, and then consider whether you need these items, what purpose they serve, and if there is a more ethical and sustainable way of getting things done. Maybe that means taking part of tomorrow to research easy recipes so you can work towards buying less fast food. Or ways you can replace disposable items with reuseable ones. Or what stores you shop at, where their goods come from, and the consequences of “a deal”.
There are many “Buy Nothing Day” activities already planned and happening across Canada tomorrow. If you would like to participate in one, you can check them out here.
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seven comments
Keep in mind that I am an Adbusters subscriber and have been published in the magazine a few times. However, I just can't advocate for 'buy nothing day.' I'm all for taking a look at our own consumer spending, but there are some glaring problems, no matter how you spin it.
First of all, if you don't spend your $10 today, you'll spend it tomorrow. That $10 will simply sit in the bank and be SPENT BY SOMEONE ELSE until you decide to use it.
Secondly, people try to 'prepare' for an event like Buy Nothing Day' by buying things in advance that they will have to buy tomorrow. If you buy extra bus tickets the day before Buy Nothing Day and then use them on Buy Nothing Day, you are still contributing to consumerism because you are still 'spending' assets, which will later have to be replaced by spending more money the next time you need to ride the bus.
The impact a few 'subversive' anti-consumerists have on a country's economy is slim to none, especially when you take into account that people spend in ways they don't realize every day. You eat your groceries, flush your toilet, turn your lights on, talk on the phone and take hot fucking showers. This is spending money!
The only way you can actually impact the economy is BY MAKING LESS, being less involved in production, spending less, and thereby consuming less. 'Earn Nothing Day' doesn't exactly have the same charm, does it?
Hey, while we're at it, why not empty your bank account and burn your savings? Don't dare drive anywhere, you're spending gas. And don't even think about going to anything free, because SOMEBODY is still spending money to have that event happen, and you're only encouraging them. Hell, you might as well just stay at home in bed. Then again, that's spending time (which is the only REAL economic bargaining chip you have).
...okay, so that was a wee overboard.
NOT TO MENTION the destructive protests that tend to be associated with Buy Nothing Day. A bunch of disenfranchised teenagers ransacking a Wal-Mart does nothing but make the lives of the company's employees more miserable. This makes me sad and incredibly frustrated.
What it comes down to is that people need shit. The problem with consumerism isn't that it EXISTS, it's that it's out of control. Economics doesn't distinguish between wants and needs, and while it may admit that resources are scarce, it does nothing to represent that scarcity (or environmental fragility) in actual, dollar-value cost, instead blindly striving for constant (unsustainable) growth.
Instead of boycotting spending (or consumption, or capitalism) I think that to invest in ethical funds, buy fair-trade, sustainable, ethical, non-sweatshop products etc. etc. is a much more effective protest.
Put your money where your mouth is, instead of advertising a disillusioned 'day of silence.'
Posted by Lex Gill
November 22, 2007, 7:25 PM
Well Lex Gill, I disagree. There is space in 'Buy Nothing Day' to mark it however you choose, and the value of such a day (the only concentrated/international day of consideration on rampant consumerism) far outweighs the negatives.
As I mentioned above, the two foundations of Buy Nothing Day, "consuming smarter and consuming less", speak to your concerns on, well, consuming less, as well as putting your money where your mouth is by investing in ethical funds, and buying fair-trade and sustainable goods.
Posted by Catherine
November 23, 2007, 7:56 AM
"It means you take a day to think about your small day-to-day purchases (e.g. trips to Starbucks), your planned big purchases, and where and how you purchase generally."
I'm glad you said that Catherine. Buy Nothing Day is one of those things that's always irked me, even though I wholeheartedly agree that consumerism is out of control and our way of life scares the pants off of me - even as I cheerfully take part in it. But saying that the point of BND is more to take the time to pause and think about why you shop how you shop, more than it is about buying nothing, makes a lot more sense to me. Though I guess "Think About Your Shopping Habits and How They Might Be Unnecessarily Destructive Day" doesn't have the same ring to it.
So I like the idea behind BND (now that you've explained it to me, thanks!). But like many anti-consumerist protests, it seems to come from the middle class, and in that way doesn't take into account the fact that people make lousy consumer choices maybe because they're poor, or because their choices are restricted by their social position in some other way. I think that's my number one problem with anti-consumerism - that the movement itself is ironically classist, and often racist and other isms too.
Posted by Thea
November 23, 2007, 11:33 AM
Hey Catherine --
I wasn't necessarily trying to argue against what you've expressed in your post, but the negative realities (economically, socially) of what Buy Nothing Day becomes (as a whole, not to the individual).
I feel like there can be a more constructive sense of awareness brought on by an everyday consideration for the planet, the labour force, and fundamental human rights. Buy Nothing Day turns it into a spectacle instead of a practical lifestyle. I feel kind of the same way about Buy Nothing Day as others tend to feel about Valentine's, I guess. Does that analogy work?
Posted by lex
November 23, 2007, 11:38 AM
Hey Lex -- fair enough. I guess the CAPS threw me off ;) I do share some of your concerns, which is why I mark Buy Nothing Day in the way I described in the post.
And Thea, I think I see what you're saying, but I've always had a bit of trouble with that argument -- would you mind explaining it a little more?
Posted by Catherine
November 23, 2007, 3:45 PM
I do apologize for the caps. I had just gotten off an 10 hour shift where I got into a ridiculous argument with some guy over feminist economics. He called Marilyn Waring a 'militant lesbo socialist.' I was a little tweaked ;) needless to say.
Posted by lex
November 24, 2007, 12:39 PM
Yeah, it would NEVER occur to me to reflect on my habits unless someone else told me!
I'd just be a mindless consumerist robot zombie if it wasn't for the good folks at adbusters saving me from myself since they and their ilk are so informed and 'aware'. Ohhmmmm.
Posted by littleblackduck
November 26, 2007, 8:15 PM
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