I’ve been celebrating Buy Nothing Day for years. This year, I’m even more encouraged to celebrate, because Buy Nothing Day falls on November 25th, my birthday. Buy Nothing Day was originally launched by the folks at Adbusters, and it’s pretty simple to participate. Buy Nothing Day encourages people to skip the Black Friday madness and choose other, better alternative activities instead.

Below is the awesome Buy Nothing Day video – it was made back in 2005, but it’s still relevant. By the way, when it first appeared, many media networks like MTV and ABC banned this commercial, deeming it too hard-core for American consumers.  Lame.

Most people know about Black Friday. It happens every year, the Friday after Thanksgiving. Stores hold massive sales and people head out in droves to shop. There are some huge issues with a holiday that celebrates massive consumerism though, such as…

• Black Friday is a huge time waster. You could spend the day with your family instead of spending it in a stressful, crowded store check-out line. It’s a holiday weekend for pete’s sake, don’t you have better stuff to do?

• Black Friday encourages the gigantic “Buy more, buy bigger” mindset that’s already in place in this country.

• Black Friday is not eco-friendly, because it’s a day focused on buying as much stuff as possible – not healthy for people or the earth. Plus, most retailers who participate in the Black Friday shenanigans don’t carry safe, green, non-toxic products, and because it occurs all on one day, you don’t have time to research before you buy.

• Black Friday sets a terrible example for your kids. Kids are bombarded with consumer issues every single day. The last thing kids need is a holiday telling them how cool it is to buy, buy, buy.

• Black Friday doesn’t help you make smart consumer choices because it happens so quickly. There’s no time to think through purchases. You have to buy right now.

• Black Friday make people do incredibly greedy, money-minded and lame things. Seriously – read this.

• Black Friday is not peaceful. No argument on earth will convince me that consumerism, mixed with long lines, mixed with stress, mixed with fighting over products and other nonsense connected with Black Friday is a healthy way to live. A peaceful living mindset is tied intrinsically to eco-living. When you buy less, live healthier and make positive choices, a certain sense of calm begins to take over your life , which can lead to a greener lifestyle as well. Less clutter, less competition, more peace, and more green.

People who are healthy and happy, and not stressed over stuff can stay more balanced and have more time to figure out how to invest in a greener world. You don’t have to shop, shop, shop on November 25th. You could make a statement by not shopping at all.

• Stuff to do on Black Friday that in no way involves shopping.

Instead of shopping, use Black Friday as a day to go on a hike, play board games, hold a gathering for friends you missed over Thanksgiving, or whatever you like. If you REALLY must participate, consider a buy something responsible day instead.

According to a retail trade group survey released on Thursday, as many as 138 million U.S. shoppers may be heading out for Black Friday events. That’s a lot of shoppers to weave in and out of. Why not try Buy Nothing Day this year instead?

Buy Nothing Day is a push to combat the overwhelming consumer issues we face here, and all over the world. It’s a push to make people recognize that stuff like family time, advocating for nature, daydreaming, questioning the status quo and more is more important than scoring deals. Of course, it’s also a push to buy less stuff; to really think about those purchases before you make them. This is healthy for you, your wallet and the planet.

Now, if you always participate in Black Friday, you may not have ideas about what to do instead. Luckily, there’s a lot you can do besides hit the sales. Such as…

• There are Buy Nothing Day Meetups happening in almost 200 cities. Find one.

• Join Buy Nothing Day 2010 on Facebook to gather ideas and support from the Facebook community.

• Do the obvious – hang with the family! Thanksgiving just happened, do you really need to go shop? Take everyone on a hike, have a cookie baking day, eat leftovers and watch movies together, play board games, plant a tree, play dress-up, sing, make some crafts or go for a walk and just chill together.  It’s a great day to find a family activity.

• Get friends and family together for a homemade gift making day.

• Weatherize your home. If you can’t afford to weatherize your home read this.

• Get out a local map. Find a park or wilderness area you’ve never been to. Pack everyone up and go there. Take pictures!

• Clear out all your unwanted stuff. Clean it all and get some boxes together to donate to a local thrift store or charity.

• Stuff some shoeboxes – of course pick up the goods before Friday.

• Teach your kids to make homemade bread. Bake some extra for a neighbor.

• Organize a neighborhood clothing, toy or book swap.

• Build a recycled kite – go fly it.

• Start making plans to simplify the rest of the holiday season.

Don’t forget the real meaning behind Buy Nothing Day. Buy Nothing Day isn’t about changing your lifestyle for just one day. You should focus on creating a lasting family ideal surrounded around having less, buying less and spending more time together.

I’m sure you can think of other cool things to do that don’t involve shopping. What other fun activities can you think of?

It’s November which means a huge event is coming, and I don’t mean Thanksgiving.

Buy Nothing Day falls on November 26th this year (in the USA). I celebrate this event every year, and hopefully you’ll be on board to celebrate as well.

What is Buy Nothing Day?

Buy Nothing Day is an alternative event you can celebrate in place of Black Friday. Buy Nothing Day was originally launched by the clever folks at Adbusters, and it’s a fairly simple event. Buy Nothing Day encourages people to not participate the madness that is Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year. Instead of shopping until you drop, you can choose to NOT shop.

How could you possibly be on board with this event when you’re not even on board with Earth Day?

While I’m not 100% against Earth Day, I’m also not totally on board because of the mass consumer issues associated with it. Earth Day is quickly becoming as consumer driven as Christmas and other major holidays. Also, I prefer to practice Earth Day ethics year-round.

I appreciate that Buy Nothing Day focuses on educating people about buying less, not only on Black Friday, but all year round.

Reasons why participating in Buy Nothing Day is a good idea:

I’m not a huge shopper anyway. I don’t enjoy shopping unless it’s absolutely necessary. I hate excess stuff. Crowded stores frustrate me and seeing all that junk (a lot of it toxic) that you don’t need on the shelves makes me upset. However, even if you like shopping, there are still reasons not to participate…

• Black Friday is a huge time waster.  Why not use your time better? You could spend the day with your family instead of spending it in a stressful, crowded store check-out line.

• The USA has a big “Buy more, buy bigger” mindset. Buy Nothing Day attempts to counteract this issue.

• Black Friday is not eco-friendly. I don’t see how any day focused on buying as much stuff as possible could be considered healthy for people or the planet.

• Black Friday sets a terrible example for your kids. Kids are bombarded with consumer issues daily. They don’t need yet another holiday that tells them how awesome it is to buy, buy, buy.

• Black Friday doesn’t, in anyway allow for smart consumer choices because it all happens so fast. There’s no time to think. You have to buy or you lose.

• Black Friday make people do incredibly greedy and lame things. Seriously – read this.

Worst of all Black Friday costs a lot:

Black Friday encourages needless purchases. Needless purchases are not green. If you only buy what you need on Black Friday then you’re extremely rare. Most people I know come home with some serious excess junk on Black Friday. Sometimes this is because stores don’t stock enough of sale items so people get other stuff instead. Or it’s because people can’t stop themselves from buying something, simply because it’s on sale, not because they actually need it.

Most people who say they buy only what they need on Black Friday are lying to themselves….

• Web marketing analyst Coremetrics noted that the average online shoppers spent 35% more on Black Friday than on other days.

• According to The Street, as of right now, (2010) 5% of U.S. consumers are still paying for 2009′s seasonal spending, yet the National Retail Federation expects holiday spending to rise 2.3% this year to $447 billion.

• According to Consumer Reports, 13.6 million Americans are still juggling debt from last season, 39% of people reported that they exceeded their holiday budget last year and 5% said they went way over budget.

• It’s not just stats that prove people overspend either. Look around at your friends and family (and yourself). How much junk do most people own? A lot.

Instead of shopping, use Black Friday as a day to go on a hike, play board games, hold a gathering for friends you missed over Thanksgiving, or whatever you like. Are you participating in Black Friday or Buy Nothing Day this year? Why?

Other resources:

• Although I’ll still celebrate BND, I like this take too – buy responsible day.
• Are Black Friday deals really worth it?
• Black Friday or Buy Nothing Day, which side are you on?

Over the weekend I had some unsavory characters smash in both my front car windows, steal my cell phone, and some other stuff, so I had to take the weekend off entirely from work to fix these issues. Yay Portland right? I hate how crowded and busy and apparently crime ridden this city has become. In any case, I’ll be MIA until after Thanksgiving, trying to catch up at work and actually get Thanksgiving together.

That said, if you stop by, that’s why I’m MIA AND I hope that everyone has a wonderful, non-stressful, and fun green Thanksgiving day. Try to get out into nature and skip that Black Friday madness. I’ll be back with fresh posts after the holiday.

For years now I’ve been participating in Buy Nothing Day. Buy Nothing Day is the alternative to Black Friday, launched by the good folks at Adbusters.

The basics:

Buy Nothing Day is fairly self-explanatory. On the official Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, Buy Nothing Day encourages consumers to not shop til they drop but to buy nothing instead. Black Friday is usually the single biggest shopping day of the year. Adbusters notes, “We’re asking tens of millions of people around the world to bring the capitalist consumption machine to a grinding – if only momentary – halt.”

Why Buy Nothing Day?:

• You have better things to do with your time than shop such as spend time with your family.
• The U.S. is considerably overwhelmed with consumerism and Buy Nothing Day is one day that attempts to highlight the fact that while over consumption is currently alive and thriving, it doesn’t need to be this way.
• Black Friday is a holiday that’s all about encouraging people to buy more, more, more. It’s not green. It’s not budget or family friendly. It doesn’t teach any life-long lessons your kids need to learn. You don’t have to be on board.

Black Friday is not a green holiday:

Black Friday is anything but earth friendly. An entire day focused on getting as much stuff as possible is simply not green. Obviously we all need some stuff, but we don’t need as much as most of us have. Products and the energy it takes to make said products have a negative affect on the earth.

Black Friday wastes gas: All that driving from store to store is not good. Plus there’s more traffic, and you sitting in traffic is not eco-friendly.

Black Friday encourages needless purchases. Needless purchases you make are not green. I haven’t met many people who are able to get only what they actually need on Black Friday because stores don’t stock enough of sale items. They advertise one item, but just to get you in the store. Once there they display a huge amount of goods you don’t need or that were not on your list and many fall for it.

Black Friday wastes time: Your time is important. Most people get the day after Thanksgiving off. There are a million other things you could be doing with your family or friends that have nothing to do with shopping.

Black Friday sets a bad example: Kids especially don’t need a holiday that’s set up to encourage buying a ton of stuff. This holiday doesn’t allow for smart consumer choices because it all happens so fast.

Black Friday doesn’t showcase safe green products: Most stores who participate in the Black Friday shenanigans don’t carry safe, green, non-toxic products, and because it occurs all on one day, you don’t have time to research before you buy.

Black Friday is not peaceful. In many ways I feel that peaceful living is tied intrinsically to eco-living. Once you start to live in a more simple manner a certain calm does take over your life and it leads to a more green lifestyle as well. You get over competing with anyone on a who has what level and it’s an overall nicer way to live. You’ve got less clutter, less competition, more peace, and more green. Black Friday is not a peaceful event. It’s crowded, folks argue over stuff, and no one needs to live like that, not even for a day.

People who are healthy and happy and not stressed over stuff tend to stay more balanced and they have more time which leads to the time to invest in a green world.  No argument on earth is going to convince me that Black Friday; all those lines; all the shoving; all the stuff is a healthy way to live. Instead of shopping, use Black Friday as a day to go on a hike, play board games, hold a gathering for friends you missed over Thanksgiving, or whatever you like.

Are you participating in Black Friday or Buy Nothing Day this year? Why?