While many people will spend the day after Thanksgiving bargain shopping, a movement of people worldwide will avoid the sales and observe Buy Nothing Day this weekend.
Celebrated on Friday in North America and Saturday elsewhere this year, the purpose of the holiday is “to provide a period of respite from the rigors of the consumption economy, which is the main thing that dominates the media and perhaps a few too many of our daily life choices and aspirations,” according to the International Buy Nothing Day Web site.
ASUO Environmental Coordinator Rosie Sweetman promoted Buy Nothing Day outside the EMU on Tuesday, distributing homemade stickers.
Sweetman said that while some people celebrate Buy Nothing Day by having protests and distributing fliers at shopping malls, the point is for individuals to evaluate their own purchasing choices.
“For the most part, people who go out on the biggest shopping day of the year are buying things they probably don’t need,” Sweetman said.
– Eva Sylwester