On November 27th in North America, and November 28th elsewhere, people around the world will choose to purchase nothing, in awareness of over-consumption and consumerism. “Buy nothing day” was first started in 1992 in Vancouver, Canada by Ted Dave, a local artist, and first received media attention from Adbusters magazine. Over 65 nations currently participate in the event. The idea of the day is to realize how our lives are based on over-consuming, and how our society is based on capitalism. Activities are organized including cutting up credit cards, standing in busy malls with protesting signs etc. to spread awareness of the day, as no mainstream media covered the event except for CNN. MTV, ABC and CTV all turned down the commercial, and banned it from their networks.
Kalle Lasn, editor and chief of Adbusters magazine surprisingly landed an interview on CNN in 2007, which even featured a “buy nothing day” ad. However, the interview was set up to contradict Kalle and make a fool of him, as most of his ideas were shot down by the CNN anchor. In the interview he stated “Over consumption is in some sense the mother of all our environmental problems” and received the response, “Oh come on, environmental problems?”. Kalle responded, “Yes environmental problems, every single purchase you make has some sort of impact on the planet”. What kind of news anchor responds to a valid point with “come on”?
Our culture is so based around consumerism that we forget how much we actually spend. Capitalism saturates our economic system, and something must be done about it. Kalle stated in his 2007 interview, that North American’s consume 86% of global goods, leaving a mere 14% for the rest of the world. If we don’t change our spending habits, environmental, political and psychological consequences will occur. “Don’t buy anything day” is the best thing that has happened to North America, as it continues to spread awareness of over-consumption, and grows larger every year. On November 27th, I will not be purchasing anything, and I hope you won't either.
"...buying things makes people happy because it takes their mind off living...i get the impression that American's love it." - Chuck Klosterman (19)
Works Cited
"Buy Nothing Day | Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters." Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters | Journal of the mental environment. Adbusters, 2009. Web. 20 Nov. 2009.
Klosterman, Chuck. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. New York: Scribner, 2003.
"YouTube - Kalle Lasn on CNN Buy Nothing Day." YouTube. 2007. Web. 20 Nov. 2009.
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