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Published on Friday, November 28, 2003 by The Times-Standard (Eureka, California)
by Meghan Vogel
It's arrived -- the day after Thanksgiving. The day that officially launches the holiday shopping season. The day to get up at the crack of dawn. The day to make your holiday shopping list. The day to line up in the cold outside of closed stores, waiting to be one of the first to grab the best deals.
Or not.
While some prepare to shop till they drop today, others around the world are preparing to buy nothing.
"Participate by not participating" is the slogan for International Buy Nothing Day, a growing grass-roots movement aimed at curbing consumption. Started in the mid-1990s by the Canadian anti-consumerism organization Adbusters, Buy Nothing Day is a global protest against the holiday shopping frenzy. According to Adbusters, last year more than 100 million people in 65 countries heeded the call to buy nothing on the day after Thanksgiving.
The Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Arcata, quoting a statistic from the National Retail Association, wrote in a news release that holiday shoppers in the United States are expected to spend $217.4 billion this year, a 6 percent rise from last year.
While some would say a booster shot to America's economy is always a good thing, others would argue for the questioning of the products' origin and the ethics of the companies producing them.
"Ironically, we do sell things on Buy Nothing Day," said Asha Green, co-director of Arcata's Redwood Peace and Justice Center.
The center, a resource network uniting groups committed to working toward social justice, has a retail space specializing in fair trade items. When buying fair trade items, consumers can be assured their money is going directly to the producers, often rural farmers or craftspersons.
Throughout the world today, thousands of activists will be out in malls and shopping centers persuading people to consume less and think more. Last year in Canada, according to Adbusters, activists dressed as "blind consumer sheep." In Japan, "Zen-ta Claus" led a group meditation, and in London tables were set up for the shredding of credit cards.
Buy Nothing Day is essentially a challenge to "switch off from shopping and tune into life," as stated on the website www.adbusters.org However, the day also goes beyond what could perhaps be perceived as Scrooge-like tactics. The aim of International Buy Nothing Day, according to the Adbusters website, is to expose the environmental and ethical consequences of a world where only 20 percent of the population is consuming more than 80 percent of the Earth's natural resources.
Sue Swanson, property manager at the Bayshore Mall in Eureka, said she was familiar with International Buy Nothing Day.
"Our goal is to provide a relaxing and enjoyable environment for shoppers and that is what we are going to do on Friday," Swanson said. She added that most stores at the mall will be open at 8 a.m., but some open earlier, such as KB Toys, which will open its doors at 5 a.m.
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