Yesterday was Buy Nothing Day, an anti-holiday to point out the consumerism that we (westerners) indulge in on a daily basis. My ability to observe buy nothing day is often predicated on who I’m hanging out with at the time. At one half of my in-laws, there’s usually enough left overs and we’re far enough from the madding crowd that I don’t even notice it was observed until it’s past. At the other half of my in-laws, and at my own parent’s, there is a mall right near by and television letting us know just what kinds of amazing deals we’d be missing.
This year, I met some old friends for breakfast [$] (although the place we wanted to go was closed so I spent less money than I had planned [-$] but that money did go to a giant corporation—Starbucks—rather than to a local eatery—Hobee’s [$]). Then I boarded a plane [$$$$$] and flew down to LA to work in a mall [$$$ assessed for simply working in a mall and facilitating consumerism]. I came home and watched some television [$$ because it’s not in the spirit of of the day but -$ since I TiVo’d through the commercials], ate lunch, and then biked [-$$] to the zoo, where I took a shuttle [no assessment because it’s not technically public transport] to the mall [$ again for working in a fucking mall on Black Friday!]. I bought dinner [$$] and then shuttled [$ because I was the only one in the shuttle] back to the zoo to bike [-$ to offset the personal shuttle trip] home and crash.
Not my most successful Buy Nothing Day (a total score of 12$) but for an Angeleno, probably not all that bad. The total money I spent yesterday (if we count the money spent on the plane ticket as being spent yesterday) was only around $71, but I still feel that the computers I sold yesterday should count against me somehow…
Two musings that struck me in the midst of all this: how many people actually buy Christmas gifts on Black Friday versus simply buying things for themselves at the sales? I would say that 75% of the people I saw yesterday were buying gifts but that the 25% who were self-buying ended up spending more (giftcards vs. a computer). I don’t even know how such a study might be conducted, but I’d like to see the results.
Also, and I thought this all the way from the mall to the zoo, if you’re taking public transport, the bus will drive empty if you don’t take it, so you’re “saving” gas even if you’re the only one on a regular route. But the shuttle I took was just for mall employees and, since it was late when I left, was called directly for me. Can I even think to call that action any kind of environmentalism if my car, driven to and from the mall, would have taken less gas than the one trip in the shuttle-bus?
How did each of you celebrate Buy Nothing Day? And were you more successful (or at least less complicit) than I?
7 responses so far ↓
1 Rich // Nov 24, 2007 at 9:58 am
I went through a tiny bit of self-loathing after a brief visit to Target to buy some environmentally friendly LED christmas lights for my front door (I did wait until late afternoon when the store was no longer crowded), somewhat mitigated by the fact that the string of 60 bulbs only consumes 4.8 watts of electricity! And the colors are pretty. In the wake of my soon-to-be-completed divorce I felt I needed something cheery this time of year. It actually helped.
2 pilgrimgirl // Nov 24, 2007 at 10:11 am
Our family stayed around home and played games and got some work done. John made a jaunt to Trader Joe’s and we made a $12 online purchase. Oh, and also a bit of gas $ (8 mi round trip) for John to drop some books off at the library. Overall a pretty good non-consumer Buy Nothing Day.
For me, the most important part of anti-consumerism isn’t observing Black Friday, but it’s reducing the consumerism of the entire holiday season. This year I’m trying to go mostly handmade with my gifts, so that ought to help. An example: I am crocheting some simple items for friends out of hand-dyed recycled yarn (which I did buy, but from an etsy shop a few weeks ago and not from a ginormous corporation).
Rich: sorry to hear about your soon-to-be divorce… The lights sound like a wonderful way to feel cheery and festive. Will this holiday season be a difficult one for you?
3 xJane // Nov 24, 2007 at 10:17 am
I just heard about xmas LEDs! I’m very excited about the prospect but I don’t usually decorate a tree & I already have xmas lights, so no LEDs for me for some time
4 Elaine // Nov 25, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Well, I was at LosCon, so I had to spend for meals and I bought a couple of sodas for myself and some water and orange juice for my mother.
However, I put off all by book buying until Saturday. So I would say that I was semi-successful.
I do have to say that I never, ever do Christmas shopping on Black Friday/Buy Nothing Day, never go into malls or major chain retailers and if I do have to buy something on that day I try my best to buy from small retailers rather than the big guys.
5 John // Nov 25, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Elaine, we came soooooo close to doing LosCon as a family on Saturday! Knowing that you would be there probably would have pushed us over the edge!
Any plans to do a Con report on your blog? (hint, hint)
xJane, I stared long and hard at a bottle of (legal!) absinthe before deciding to honor the Spirit of Buy Nothing Day.
6 Rich // Nov 25, 2007 at 9:47 pm
I’m doing okay, thanks for asking!
7 Elaine // Nov 26, 2007 at 6:58 am
You all should have taken the plunge and come on over, John. I was kind of half-way looking for you all, especially on Saturday. It was a good time.
And, yes, I’m planning on blogging about the con, but it might take a couple of days to get the thing up. It always takes me two or three days to get back into the swing of things after I get home from being away.
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