Buy Nothing Day

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Buy Nothing Day demonstration in San Francisco, November 2000
Buy Nothing Day demonstration in San Francisco, November 2000

Buy Nothing Day is an informal day of protest against consumerism observed by social activists. In 2007, Buy Nothing Day fell on November 23rd in North America and November 24th internationally. Saturday, 29th November 2008 will be Buy Nothing Day internationally. [1] It was founded by Vancouver artist Ted Dave and subsequently promoted by the Canadian Adbusters magazine.

The first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Vancouver in September of 1992 "as a day for society to examine the issue of over-consumption."[2] In 1997, it was moved to the Friday after American Thanksgiving, which is one of the top 10 busiest shopping days in the United States. Outside of North America, Buy Nothing Day is celebrated on the following Saturday. Despite controversies, Adbusters managed to advertise Buy Nothing Day on CNN, but many other major television networks declined to air their ads.[3] Soon, campaigns started appearing in United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, the Netherlands, and Norway. Participation now includes more than 65 nations.[2]

While critics of the day charge that Buy Nothing Day simply causes participants to buy the next day,[4] Adbusters states that it "isn't just about changing your habits for one day" but "about starting a lasting lifestyle commitment to consuming less and producing less waste."[2]

[edit] Related articles

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Buy Nothing Day"Adbusters.org
  2. ^ a b c Buy Nothing Day 2006 press release
  3. ^ "Buy Nothing Day"The Guardian.co.uk
  4. ^ Why I Shop on Buy Nothing Day, TheTyee.ca, 11/24/2006

[edit] External links