How To Celebrate "Buy Nothing Day"

Do the holidays seem overly commercialized to you? Do you find yourself wondering how buying people things is the only way to show that you love them? Are you tired of being pressured into “buy, buy, buy!” for the sake of the holidays? Does the world seem just a tad too obsessed with the material and lacking the spiritual?

If you answered "yes" to the above questions, you're not alone. The trend of massive holiday buying continues to grow: Americans will spend over $457 billion dollars for the three main winter holidays (Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa) this year. At an average of over $800 per person, holiday shopping seems to be a national--if not worldwide--obsession.

But whatever happened to the simpler times? Children have learned to think of Santa Claus as nothing more than a strange present-deliveryman, instead of a mystical, magical being who spreads goodwill and cheer. Friends and family exchange presents without so much as a word, knowing that if they failed to deliver, or spent less than the other person, then they will be seen as a “tightwad” or even worse...that the lack of gift means a lack of love.

Buy Nothing Day (celebrated November 23 in North America, November 24 internationally in over 64 nations!) is the socially-conscious holiday promoted primarily by Adbusters magazine as the antithesis to the spending fervor. Fed up with the overwhelming consumerism, participants enjoy a wide variety of activities. Here are a few ideas to help you get started!

1. Buy nothing on Buy Nothing Day. Seems simple enough, right? We're not just talking about “don't go shopping” here...buying nothing applies to the whole day, in every area. Don't buy gasoline, don't buy coffee, don't buy a newspaper. Consume less by consuming nothing all day.
2. Get the word out. Tell your friends, write to family, make your own holiday cards from recycled paper and give them out as gifts. Letting people know about the day will help spread awareness about our national obsession with shopping, and gets to the heart of the matter: Interacting with loved ones is infinitely more fulfilling than buying them stuff.
3. Join in on a credit card cut up, Whirl-Mart or zombie walk. Described in detail on the Adbusters website, these activities promote the message in a highly visual and potent manner. Finding a group in a big city shouldn't be too hard, but if you live in a smaller city or town, even a small gesture like carrying a sign outside your local department store is likely to make a big impact.
4. Make your holiday gifts; don't buy them. In the time it takes you to drive to the store, hunt around, fight with other shoppers, stand in line, purchase your stuff, bring it home, wrap it and then distribute it, you could have made your own gifts for free. What is something you can make or create for those you normally give presents to? It doesn't have to be an item; perhaps it is a service or a promise to spend more time with them. All those hours spent shopping could be spent with loved ones! Don't worry if what you do isn't up to retail standards; your time is worth far more than your money, and the unique handmade gift you give will be worth far more than anything you could buy in a store.
5. Not only one day. The core message of Buy Nothing Day isn't about a few gifts during the holidays – it is about our overwhelming consumerism. While not buying something on this day is great, take it a step further by pledging to buy less, and buy less often. Reducing consumption will help everyone in the world...including you!

Enjoy this most festive and progressive of anti-holidays!

Additional Holiday Tips: Christmas trees are getting more expensive, so make an investment in high-quality artificial Christmas trees instead. Artificial trees are now incredibly lifelike and come prelit, so all you'll give up is a sticky sap and fallen needles!