Buy Nothing Day = Black Friday avoidance

I almost got sucked in this year. Almost. My inbox held a "Black Friday 15% off!" email from a company that I deal with on a regular basis for supplies, some of which are presently in need of replacement.

What stopped me? The words BLACK FRIDAY. To me, those words have become synonymous with the desire for too much. Excess. And now Black Friday is synonymous with my personal desire for less, not more.

Black Friday is the name of the consumer free-for-all that begins the day after American Thanksgiving, the day when many businesses offer consumers deals in an effort to move their profit margin ledgers from red into black ink for the year. And the more they make, the better they like it.

The problem is that many of the companies who use Black Friday sales strategies have bought into the idea that profits must grow year after year in spite of the fact that constant economic growth can lead to societal and environmental destruction, just like too much constant growth in the human body is known as cancer. Big corporations can offer discounts that small entrepreneurs can't hope to compete with, and the public buys in. Small businesses go bankrupt, the rich get richer, and I'm sure we've all seen coverage of Black Friday madness from the past. Now it's just moved online, and the stuff that's ordered online and rejected/returned too often ends up in our landfills.

It all breaks my heart -- this insistence on jumping from the Feast of Gratitude into the frenzy of consumerism. That's why I love Buy Nothing Day so much. It's a day to stop and reflect on all that we do have instead of all that we don't. To consider other kinds of gifts than the material ones Black Friday pushers want us to buy. To think about reducing our consumption for the sake of creation and future generations. To live simply, so that others may simply live.

I know that Christmas is coming. But this old poster from the now defunct Buy Nothing Christmas organization still makes me smile.

There are better ways to celebrate Christmas, for sure. If you want some ideas, I have many on my Simple Christmas Ideas page (click here). If I had the time, I'd revisit one a day for the next 31 days. But that ship sailed once (10 years ago, now how is that possible?), and they're still pretty relevant. Besides, I have many other things to do in the coming Advent Season that I love so much, including Simple Christmas Idea #12 for my kids.

But I'll start into it all by buying nothing on this Buy Nothing Day/Week. Join me? 

And I'll re-moodle this: 

Black Friday Prayer (2016)

How much did we pay
to see a new day?
It's a gift.

A breath of air? Free.
But we often don't see
it's a gift.

A life lived in peace,
the warmth of our beds,
the food on our table.
the roof o'er our heads.
all gift.

But 
through no fault of their own
many children have grown
to adulthood with
less than they need...
Still, some go out in haste
to add to the waste
of our earth
through insatiable greed.

Too oft we are told
"with the first one sold
the second is half price."
O God, help us see
that your best gifts are free
and settle for our given slice.

Remind us, O God,
that it's not for sale --
your beautiful creation.
It's already ours,
to be cared for and loved
and saved for the next generation.

Our sense of possession
was not your intention
because Everything is gift!

Teach us how
to remember it now 
and always.

+Amen

Celebrate "Buy Nothing Day" with a little ditty

Most people know by now that the Friday after American Thanksgiving (November 25th this year) is the consumer craze known as Black Friday, the day when stores are supposed to make so much money that their ledgers go from red to black ink. But the craziness that goes with those sales turns me off -- I've always much preferred to celebrate Buy Nothing Day, a day to remember that the season we call Christmas was never intended to be an all-out shopping frenzy.

In the spirit of simple living and saving the planet for future generations, I offer you a little jingle to encourage wiser consumption over the next several weeks (well, really, forever). There's absolutely no shame in buying useful items as Christmas gifts. Or in giving an experience, like a concert ticket. Or a favourite food item. Or something homemade. In fact, the world would be a much healthier place if we purchased fewer resource-gobbling big ticket items and used less stuff every Christmas. Instead of presents, why not give your presence to those you love? If you're looking for gift possibilities and other suggestions that don't ask so much of our earth's resources, that's what this Simple Christmas Ideas page is all about.

Below is the promised jingle, also known as "Do I Need It?". A remix with a marvelous Master Composter/Recycler chorus and new images is on its way, being created by  my daughter Christina and her boyfriend, Landon, as part of a Christmas gift they promised me last year (see, they came up with a very creative gift idea that cost them some time and effort rather than money or earthly resources -- good kids!). The new Do I Need It? video will be coming soon to a moodling near you... that's a promise. In the meantime, sing along with the old one (which has reached 24,500 YouTube views) -- I dare you!

Simple Suggestions #145 and #188 revisited... Observe Buy Nothing Day

Here it comes again! The day after American Thanksgiving and the consumption of all that turkey has been designated an anti-consumption holiday by many people who are concerned about the health and well being of our planet and its inhabitants -- a day to be grateful for what we already have in our lives rather than to go out and buy more (a.k.a. Christmas shopping). Unfortunately, in most circles, Buy Nothing Day is called Black Friday -- because many companies leave behind the red ink in their yearly ledgers and begin to make profits through holding insane, all out consumption-oriented events that have led to huge door-crashing, people injuring sales frenzies.

(While it's not this bad in Canada, thankfully,
there's increasing emphasis on Black Friday
as Canadian stores jump on the bandwagon
in attempts to boost their sales, too.)

I'd like to think that the world's people are waking up to the understanding that our planet has only so many resources to go around, and that human beings are becoming aware that we need to use less of those resources so that our environment and its endangered species (us included if we keep going at our present rate) stand a chance in the future. I'm doing my part by living as simply as I can, generally avoiding shopping malls, giving necessary or experiential gifts instead of stuff, and encouraging others to do the same (if you're looking for more ideas when it comes to avoiding consumerism, click here, or check out the Simple Christmas Ideas tab under the Simple Moodlings heading).

Really, Buy Nothing Day (November 28th in the U.S. and November 29th everywhere else) is good practice for every other day of the year. If we all gave our purchasing habits serious consideration every day, buying only what we need and gifting people with our presence and perhaps some homemade goodies, our world would be a much healthier place for all living things. Don't you think?

P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Click here.

Simple Suggestion #145... Celebrate "Buy Nothing Day" all year round

Buy Nothing Day finally seems to be coming into its own. This year, the people who brought us The Story of Stuff videos have jumped on the bandwagon, encouraging folks to opt out of Black Friday, which falls on November 23rd this year.

Statistically speaking, the Friday after American Thanksgiving is one of North America's biggest shopping days of the year. With Thanksgiving feasting behind them, I guess our Southern neighbours push away from the turkey table and head for the malls to get in on the huge Black Friday bargain sales that signal the start of Christmas shopping. The day has been dubbed "Black Friday" because for some companies, it's the day that they leave behind the red ink in their yearly ledgers.

It is also a black day because in recent years, people have been trampled to death in their attempts to be first to get to the bargains offered by some big box stores. Here's a sad but true video to show you a bit of the insanity, in case you've missed it. It doesn't actually show people being trampled, but it's definitely not humanity's proudest moment. Don't feel that you have to watch.

Of course, there is a much better way. In 1992, a Vancouver artist named Ted Dave decided to see what he could do to subvert consumerism. He made up posters and organized the first Buy Nothing Day to offer society a chance to examine the issue of over-consumption. Since then, it has become something of an event in many places, and was adopted by Adbusters, a not-for-profit, anti-consumerist foundation that engages in consciouness raising efforts. Their website used to post a page promoting Buy Nothing Day meet ups, where members creatively disrupt shopping activities in an effort to get people to think about their consumer habits (for example, Whirl-Mart: Participants silently steer their shopping carts around a shopping mall or store in a long, baffling conga line without putting anything in the carts or actually making any purchases. Just the idea makes me giggle!) The whole idea is to encourage people to "unshop, unspend and unwind" rather than get caught up in excessive consumption.

In Canada, Black Friday isn't a day-off during a long weekend, so the idea of starting Christmas shopping isn't very realistic for a lot of us. Canadian companies are trying to encourage Black Friday style shopping by offering special sales (I heard this morning that West Edmonton Mall, the local temple of opulence is trying to do Black Friday in a big way this week), but it has yet to really catch on.

Even so, I avoid shopping on Buy Nothing weekend simply because I love rebelling against the consumer machine. We just don't need a lot of stuff, and because we believe that excess just complicates life, our family celebrates Buy Nothing Day most days of the year. For the most part, we shop for what we need and call it good. And that's certainly better for us, for our planet, and for the rest of its inhabitants. If you think about it, a lot of the reason for Global Climate Change has to do with our obsession with the stuff we associate with "the good life," and the energy it takes to manufacture and transport that stuff all over the planet. But if I really want to have a good life, I need my planet to be healthy. And the fewer objects I have to clean, maintain, organize and repair, the more time I have to do what really makes me happy!

When my parents were small, Christmas was about family, friendship, food, drink, and celebration. Maybe they got a special surprise like a Christmas orange or a peppermint stick, but presents weren't the point of the celebrations. These days, it's really great to see that there are a lot of people trying to go back to that kind of Christmas. The Buy Nothing Christmas folks have put up a neat website to encourage simplicity rather than over-the-top, exhausting insanity that makes us all cranky and miserable right into the month of January when the bills arrive. I get a charge out of the Buy Nothing Christmas posters (that you can print off for free if you want to get people thinking).

Facing facts, we don't HAVE TO buy anything for Christmas. Presents aren't essential to celebration. But if you feel they are, why not give some "experiences" to your friends? A concert ticket, a canoe trip, a long walk, a basket of preserves, fair trade chocolate? A dinner out, with good conversation?

What are you doing on Buy Nothing Day this year? It's tempting to visit West Ed Mall and spread a few posters around... but I think I'll avoid that insanity, and just unwind instead.

Simple Suggestion #102 ... Remember to "Buy Nothing"

This weekend is Buy Nothing Day,

and that's all I have to say.

P.S. Looking for more Simple Suggestions? Try here.

Something to think about... Buy Nothing Day, November 25th/26th

No matter what you believe, here's something worth considering:



Good question, no?

From Hallowe'en onward, 'tis the season when the malls do everything in their power to invite us in, suck us in, and try to part us from our money by convincing us that we CAN buy happiness for our loved ones. But they can't fool us. We know that, in most cases,

STUFF ≠ HAPPINESS.

And we realize that running to the stores and grabbing something off the shelves isn't as deeply appreciated as the time, attention, and creativity that we can gift our loved ones with instead of stuff. We also know that if we find creative ways to show that we love and value the special people in our lives -- whether it be by giving experiential or edible gifts, offering our talents and abilities, supporting a charity in someone's name, or recycling old things into new presents -- we're being kinder to everyone who depends upon the earth's resources for life... basically, all living beings.

I won't be having a Buy Nothing Christmas, because I like to bake goodies, pass along good books, and there's our family's Christmas pajamas tradition to uphold (because last year's pjs have been outgrown or worn out)... but I will buy as little as possible, and I will definitely participate in Buy Nothing Day this Friday -- November 25th in the United States, and November 26th everywhere else. Actually, I'll probably make it a Buy Nothing Weekend. It's not hard to do. Just don't go shopping! Kind of like the Occupy Movement, except we're showing the big retailers and ad companies that we're smarter than they think we are, and that we as consumers have the power to resist their sales campaigns by not buying into all their empty promises.

This year is the 20th anniversary of Buy Nothing Day, which began as a counter cultural reaction to Black Friday, the busiest shopping day of the year in the United States. Retailers there have successfully linked Thanksgiving with heading to the malls to start the annual Christmas consumerism spree. Black Friday got its name not because people have died in rush stampedes at American big box stores on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but because for many retail outlets, it's the first day in the year that their financial bottom lines turn from red to black ink in store ledgers.

Our family does its best to support the "buy nothing" movement most of the year because we know that with seven billion people on the planet, we all need to curb our appetites and live with just enough. Our planet is finite in its abilities to provide for us and other living things, and extinctions, climate instabilities, pollution and decimation of certain ecosystems caused by human consumption are already doing more damage than we realize to the quality of our existence on earth. So it's high time that we stop using Jesus' birthday as an excuse to make things worse. Maybe we should do more of this:

For more information, posters, and great ideas to de-consumerize Christmas, check out www.buynothingchristmas.org. For more on Buy Nothing Day, see www.adbusters.org/bnd.

Buy Nothing!

Today is Buy Nothing Day.

And that's all I have to say.

An electronics moodling

My hubby is something of a computer geek, so I guess you could say I am, and our children are, by association. Some days, this is truly a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I love how our computer allows us to be in touch with people around the world with a click of a mouse, but on the other hand, I hate how, occasionally, we seem to have more screen time than face to face time. Of course, there is a solution -- limit those screens.

It's not easy, though, when school work now demands a computer, and everyone's friends are on Facebook, every Corner Gas episode is available on Youtube, Grandma and Grandpa can bridge a 500 km distance via Skype, and the computer stores all the girls' iTunes music files. But just as we've pretty much cut TV out of our lives, we can minimize the internet's influence on us too, by considering what kind of lives we really want to live and keeping time free for exercise, music making, and family time. We know that everything doesn't have to revolve around electronics and that living simply is better than being strangled by computer cords or numbed by wireless signals.

Speaking of which... here's another little video, newly released, from Annie Leonard, the Story of Stuff woman. She doesn't really talk about buying fewer electronics -- I guess our world will never go back to being Luddites -- but she does point out how toxic they can be if they aren't handled with care, and how we need to encourage companies to create computers that won't be obsolete every few minutes...

Love this computer age or not, it's here to stay. And if we all think about ways to reduce its impact on the planet, we'll all be better off.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends! And don't forget... tomorrow is BUY NOTHING DAY!

Only one week to Buy Nothing Day!

What on earth am I talking about?

Statistically speaking, the Friday after American Thanksgiving is one of America's biggest shopping days of the year. With Thanksgiving feasting behind them, I guess our Southern Neighbours push away from the turkey table and head for the malls to get on with Christmas shopping. The day after Thanksgiving in the States has been dubbed "Black Friday" because for some retailers, it is the day that they leave the red ink in their yearly ledgers behind. It is also a black day in that, in recent years, people have been trampled to death in their attempts to be first to get to the bargains offered by some big box stores.

In 1992, a Vancouver artist named Ted Dave decided to see what he could do to subvert consumerism. He made up posters and organized the first Buy Nothing Day to offer society a chance to examine the issue of over-consumption. Since then, it has become something of an event in many places, and has been adopted by Adbusters, a not-for-profit, anti-consumerist foundation that engages in consciouness raising efforts. Their website posts information about Buy Nothing Day meet ups, where members creatively disrupt shopping activities in an effort to get people to think about their consumer habits (for example, Whirl-Mart: Participants silently steer their shopping carts around a shopping mall or store in a long, baffling conga line without putting anything in the carts or actually making any purchases.)

I've never attended a Buy Nothing Day event, but we are avid Buy Nothing Day people for as many days of the week as we can be because we disagree with the "over-the-top" consumerism that has become the chief focus of the Advent/Christmas seasons and the rest of North American life. I've done more than a little research for my "Rethinking Christmas: Moving Toward Sustainable Simplicity" workshop, and was shocked to learn from Stats Can that

Canadian Christmas shoppers spent

$28.7 billion

in December 2006.

They gave just over

$8 billion

to charity that same year.

In December 2006,

Canadians spent an average of

$874

per person in retail big box stores.

Care to guess how much the average Albertan spent?

$1,113      

It's only November 19th, but last night I went for a walk around our lovely, snow-covered neighbourhood and saw a Christmas tree in someone's front window... so I guess it's not too early to talk about Christmas excess and different things that we can do to combat it. Buy Nothing Day is just one. See if, on November 26th (in North America) and 27th (in Europe and everywhere else), you can avoid running on the treadmill of consumerism. And watch this space for ideas about celebrating Christmas without shopping till you're dropping. Or better yet, check out:

http://www.buynothingchristmas.org/

And, just for fun, here's a little medley my family helped me with a few years ago. Amateur production values, but an important message: