Buy Nothing Day

Buy Nothing Day is an informal day of protest against consumerism. It is celebrated on the Friday after the American Thanksgiving holiday in North America and on the day after that internationally. People in more than 65 nations participate in Buy Nothing Day. In 2008, Buy Nothing Day will be celebrated on November 28. This is one of the biggest top 10 shopping days in the United States, which makes the idea of not making purchases on this day even more impactful.

Buy Nothing Day was first organized by a Vancouver artist in 1992 as a day for society to examine the idea of over-consumption. It is largely supported and advertised by Adbusters Magazine, a not-for-profit, reader-supported magazine concerned about the erosion of our physical and cultural environments by commercial forces.

I think that Buy Nothing Day is a very symbolic idea, but I’m not convinced that this idea will actually work. I think it is great to bring attention to the idea of over-consumption; however, I don’t believe that enough people will stop shopping on this day to really make a difference. Even if people were to stop shopping for the day, they would only have to wait until the next morning before they could start consuming again by going out to shop. It is almost insignificant, in terms of consumerism and commerce, for people to not buy things on this day because they will probably just wait to make their purchases on the next day.

On the other hand, I think the symbolism behind Buy Nothing Day is very powerful. Perhaps this day does not succeed in making a monetary impact on consumerism and it does not really affect businesses on a large scale but, if this day does succeed in raising awareness about over-consumption, then it is doing something very powerful. I think that the true goal of Buy Nothing Day is to make us think. We need to think about the things that we buy and if we really need them, and if we are making wise choices that benefit us, our society and our environment.

I watched a video called “The Story of Stuff” in another class, and it was really interesting in that it talked a lot about the idea of over-consumption and how our lives are driven by consumerism. This video introduces the term “planned obsolescence,” which is the idea that products are designed and fabricated to be used and almost immediately thrown out, and this creates not only a large amount of waste, but an over-abundance of consumerism. The video also talks about “perceived obsolescence,” which is the idea that we are being convinced by advertising, celebrities, large corporations and our peers, to throw away our stuff even though it may be in perfectly good condition, simply because something new, and supposedly better, is available.

Buy Nothing Day, in my opinion, is about resisting planned and perceived obsolescence. As a society, we consume too much. We are bombarded with advertisements and messages from big businesses, which drive us to consume more and more. We believe that we need to keep up with the trends, buy what is currently popular and continuously replace the things we already have with things that are newer and better. By participating in Buy Nothing Day – not necessarily with our actions, but at least by consciously thinking about the significance of the day – we are taking a stand against consumerism. I think that, if people were to consider the symbolism of Buy Nothing Day and perhaps start to realize that we need to change our consumer habits and rethink the purchases we make, then Buy Nothing Day would achieve its goal of make us think about pushing us to take positive action. It seems difficult to get a significant amount of people not to shop on Buy Nothing Day, but it seems a lot more manageable to get those people to simply think about their actions and their purchases. I cannot guarantee that I will not make any purchases on Buy Nothing Day but I do believe that I will think about and recognize the significance behind this day.

Works Cited

"Buy Nothing Day." Adbusters. Adbusters Media Foundation. 12 Nov. 2008

http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd.

The Story of Stuff. Dir. Louis Fox. Perf. Annie Leonard. The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard.

12 Aug. 2008. Free Range Studios. 12 Nov. 2008 http://www.storyofstuff.com/index.html.