Buy Nothing Day Is Coming!
November 23rd is the 15th annual Buy Nothing Day here in America!
I’ve participated the last two years and am gearing up for a third, but I know some of you initiates might need some help taking the plunge. If you do need help, I propose that you come back to this post on Nov. 22nd and take a look at that picture I took through the window of an Oak Park, IL boutique. If seeing that sign proudly displayed in a window isn’t enough to make you sick… Well… Then you really do need help… Or Buddhists have really changed their game and I don’t get it.
If you still need help, why not head over to ABCNews and check out their hard hitting report on Lindsay Lohan’s newest addiction… Shopping!!! I applaud the efforts to educate people on the dangers of addictive shopping, but are we so starved for rehab and crotch shots that we have to focus on LiLo’s (oh god… I just used one of those shortened name things… I’m so sorry!) shopping habits? Is focusing on a celebrity’s shopping habits even a new thing? I thought that’s why no-talent celebrities have jobs… To sell us stuff. (Not you, Lindsay. I love you. And, yes… my girlfriend knows. She even gave me a copy of Mean Girls as a gift.)
Anyway… You don’t want to end up like Lindsay Lohan, do you? If you said yes, you also need help.
As always, Buy Nothing Day advocates will plaster the blogosphere (oh god, I used that word… what is wrong with me today?) with reasons for participating ranging from the attempt to put a dent in consumerism to sending messages to evil corporations like Nike and Disney. My reasons are a bit more personal.
I advise newcomers to participate in Buy Nothing Day, simply as an experiment. Test your will power to see if you can resist the so-called deals that stores will thrust at you just as you are recovering from your Thanksgiving indigestion. Then, assess your consumption, the reasons behind it and the targets of your spending. Maybe then, we can all make a positive change at home and beyond.
Buying nothing isn’t necessarily the answer to anything, but it might be the first step.
(Learn more: Buy Nothing Day)
November 15th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
Um…heh heh… put down the credit card and step awaaaaay from the computer… But I just got back from vacation and I’m swamped with really enticing offers in my Inbox…
Oh OKAY… :p
How about instead of buying something we all give something. Take the day to organize your charitable giving all at once. Clean out your closets and stock the local Goodwill/Salv Army/St Vincent de P’s. If you put it on the To Do Today list, maybe it will actually get done.
(I’ve been missing giving my 2 cents, sorry