Buy Nothing Day

• By
• Diane Selkirk

Image by stevegarfield

Explaining Buy Nothing Day to a young consumer

A few years ago when I told my daughter Maia about Buy Nothing Day, which coincides with Black Friday (the biggest shopping day of the year in the US), she was puzzled by the idea. “Do shop keepers need a day off?” she had asked.

I explained that the shopkeepers would still go to work, it’s just hoped that the consumers would stay home and stop consuming. I told her that rather than going shopping, the idea is for people to do things together that wouldn't cost money. So we could learn that shopping shouldn’t serve as recreation.

The concept was lost on her.

As an 8-year-old, Maia was under the impression that we only shopped when it was necessary. When her clothes got too small or worn out, we made note of what she needed and headed to the nearest thrift shop.

If we needed food or something had to be repaired, we might shop then. She hadn’t really caught on to the fact that sometimes we buy things we don’t really need for no other reason than it can be fun to shop.

As far as Maia was concerned, her fun came out of spending time with us, or playing with her friends. Shopping was more of a punishment than an enjoyable activity.

Young children and life as a consumer

Recently though, my now ten-year-old discovered the mall. She only had a bit of pocket money, but she spent a few hours wandering from shop to shop with her girlfriends, coveting things she couldn’t afford and finally buying a few trinkets she didn’t need. “Just because,” she told me, “I wanted to buy something.”

When she proudly showed me her purchases (which were soon broken or forgotten), I was surprised by how sad I felt. A part of me thought I had inoculated her against the need to consume the shiny and new simply for the sake of consuming.

I thought that by walking her along deserted beaches (that are always strewn with discarded stuff no mater how far we roam) or visiting countries where culture hasn’t yet been replaced by consumption, I could teach her a different set of values.

And while a few plastic trinkets doesn't signal the end of the world, it did make me realize that the time has come to talk about Buy Nothing Day. I’m not sure what else I can do or say though.

Do you celebrate Buy Nothing Day? Leave a comment telling us about it.