The day after Thanksgiving is Buy Nothing Day, a day, according to Adbusters, to “not participate in the doomsday economy, the marketing mind-games, and the frantic consumer-binge that’s become our culture.”
For those who choose to celebrate this holiday, we ask that you do so properly. At midnight on Nov. 26, you must leave your house or apartment, because shelter is a commodity and this is Buy Nothing Day. If you don’t want to walk around naked we suggest that you make your own clothes out of materials found for free in nature like bark and leaves, but be careful not to remove these forcibly from the trees. You’ll also want to fashion a few tools because you will be hunting for your food. For those living in the city, your best bet will be rats, pigeons, cats and small dogs.
Okay, you get the point. Buy Nothing Day misses the boat for two reasons: First, its extreme goals are impossible to sustain for even a day, let alone a whole lifetime; second, it ignores good consumption. One couldn’t buy a meal to give to a starving person on the street on Buy Nothing Day. People couldn’t even buy books to inform themselves about environmental issues.
Don’t get us wrong. The spirit of Buy Nothing Day is right on the mark. America is a consumption-obsessed culture. We worship the god of money and our religious ritual of choice is shopping. Our lifestyles are not even close to being sustainable. Rather than make an attempt to live in frugal, more environmentally friendly ways, Americans have gone in the opposite direction: Our cars are bigger and less fuel efficient than ever; our homes are using more electricity and we are eating so much food that obesity has reached epidemic proportions.
Creating a day to reflect on America’s over-consumption is definitely a good thing. However, “buying nothing” is not the answer to the problem. Vilifying the act of consumption itself is not the answer. Those who participate in Buy Nothing Day admit that the importance of the day is largely symbolic; most of them will probably go right back to over-consuming on the 364 days until the next Buy Nothing Day. And nobody on the outside will be persuaded to consume differently because of their street-party antics.
Instead of participating in meaningless symbolism, the Emerald hopes our readers will participate in a new post-Thanksgiving holiday: Consume Wisely Day. As a family, sit down and brainstorm little things that you can do to consume less. To make up for Thanksgiving gluttony, eat a small vegetarian dinner on Friday. Seek out locally grown fruits and vegetables. Watch one hour less of television. Instead of going directly to the mall, shop at a few of the family-owned businesses in town. Instead of driving, take public transportation.
We need not become ascetics in order to free ourselves from consumerism’s grip. There are hundreds of small ways we can alter our habits and make a difference for the planet. But we can’t just talk about it — we must act. The day after Thanksgiving is the perfect day to begin. The trick is to continue it every day thereafter.

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