Buy Nothing Day

“Buy Nothing Day is your special day to unshop, unspend and unwind. Relax and do nothing for the economy and for yourself - at least for a single day. It's a reminder to stop and think about why you're spending.” (1). The premise of Buy Nothing Day is a good but in reality buying/spending nothing all day is not practical. It is not simply the act of going out and purchasing something but the spending money on anything such as turning off the lights or flushing the toilet. Although the creators of Buy Nothing Day do not expect such extreme actions, if we truly followed the name and bought nothing not many people would participate.
By creating a designated day to promote consuming less and conserving energy, Buy Nothing Day’s creator Ted Dave actively promotes decreasing our daily expenditure. Many people can perceive this event as useless and ask, why would this help when we can simply go back to the store the next day and buy whatever we wanted on the 25^th? While many may not completely participate, the fact that they have become aware of this may cause them to control their spending. The attention that this day brings to the cause of decreasing the worlds over consumption is almost as important as people not purchasing itself. This day will remind people that 20% of the world uses 80% of the resources.
This day needs to be advertised a lot more because many people, including myself, have never heard of it. Hopefully this day will follow earth hour in numbers and become a widespread day that helps our world conserve resources. In John Berger’s Ways of seeing he states, “It suggests that if he buys what it is offering, his life will become better. It offers him an improved alternative to what he is”(2)..Although it is a very positive event, many corporations will see this as a negative situation for their business. They are trying to sell their products to consumers as a lifestyle. Major companies such as NBC, CTV and MTV will not even play the advertisements on their stations because they understand that their businesses will be negatively affected by having a considerably less amount of viewers. Similarly, retail owners will also be strongly affected by this day and may have special promotions to entice people to their stores.
I believe that this day reminds people that they need to spend their money wisely and remember that they are not the only ones affected by every purchase they make. Even if this day is not supported by other organizations, it promotes a positive message and will cause people to alter their mindset when dealing with consuming.

Work Cited

1. "Buy Nothing Day." Buy Nothing Day. Web. 19 Nov 2009. http://www.buynothingday.org/

2. Berger, John. Ways Of Seeing. London: Penguin Books, 1972. Print.

3. "Buy Nothing Day." Adbusters. Web. 19 Nov 2009. http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd