For 15 years, Adbusters has promoted Buy Nothing Day, rather than the purely commercial "Black Friday". I heard about it through Vegan Voice magazine, (I received the new issue in the post yesterday), and blog's like Bazu's.
I completely agree with the concept of Buy Nothing Day. Especially after spending 10 days with my parents, who are the typical American consumers. Since I haven't seen them in about 18 months, and haven't spent much time with big-time consumers, I was quite shocked at their flippant attitude towards consumption, money, and trash. Why cook when we can go out to eat? Why keep something that's a little broken but still use-able, if you can just buy another? The amount of empty softdrink bottles was surprising--it normally takes Andy and me a week to fill up our box for recyclables, but my parents managed to do so in two days.
Although I love my parents and it was great to see them, I've forgotten how annoying that American attitude is. (Let me point out that I am not generalising all Americans, especially not vegans. But, the view of things as disposable seems to go hand-in-hand with the SAD and the belief that animals are around purely for our benefit.) So, to celebrate, I'm embracing Buy Nothing Day. According to the website, today is American BND, and tomorrow is International BND. Well, I'm buying nothing on both days. A master cleanse, of sorts.
Buy Nothing Christmas? I won't be able to participate completely (I've already bought some [vegan] gifts for people), but Andy and I have decided to skip pressies this year. I'll keep you posted on what we do instead...
P.S. I'm slowly but surely getting up to date on all your blogs!
5 comments:
cool link! I'm so exactly in that place this year. As in, I'll buy fabric to make things, but not stress about it, and what really matters is enjoying the season. Which should be easy to convey, you know, except that "holiday spirit" is still spoonfed to all of us in between those obnoxious commercials (I'm not watching tv either for all of december except the food network!), and it's easy to forget that in actuality, in actual fact you can get away with making a batch of your family's favourite cookies, go skiing, hang out and feel festive together WITHOUT BUYING A NEW GADGET!
I am SO sorry, I completely ranted all over your comments page. :o
um.... I like the way you guys eat a cheesecake. :)
I really like the idea of a buy nothing Christmas, only I reckon all the family would just think we were doing it to be scrooges. Ha. Still, Josh and I have been talking about doing it for ourselves, and I could put a bit more effort into coming up with homemade type pressies for everyone else.
Great to have you back!
Hey, I just observed Buy Nothing Day too! It was a good experience and I want to make it a tradition.
I know what you mean about the American consumer lifestyle. It's always shocking to me after I come back from another country. The waste that the rise of Starbucks alone has generated...
Happy BND to you, too! I didn't realize you were in the U.S. for the past 10 days! You must have been close-ish to Syracuse, no?
Buy Nothing Christmas is an awesome goal. Every year, I manage to buy and consume less, and convince my family to give me less. Plus, I'm making a concerted effort to learn more about making things... baby steps.
I barely buy any Christmas prezzies as it is. The holiday's gotten too commercial. Instead, I spend my money on ingredients and bake delicious foods for the fam.
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