“Buy Nothing Day (BND)” is fast approaching and there isn’t a doubt in my mind that if it weren’t for this media class, I would remain completely unaware that such a day even existed. Buy Nothing Day occurs the Friday after American Thanksgiving, which is one of the busiest shopping days of the year, as everyone begins to prepare for Christmas. BND is a day of protest against consumerism and over consumption. Over consumption is a major issue that has been discussed in a number of my other classes this semester. It has lead to further inequalities between people and has even resulted in wars over territories, food and water (Shah, 2001). In many countries people are fighting for their basic needs, while people in developed countries continue to live as how adbusters represents them; pigs.
Over consumption has been a reoccurring topic in my zoology class this semester. We were required to take a test at http://www.myfootprint.org/, which determined our individual ecological footprint. The quiz basically determines how much strain one individual places on the earth. After completing the quiz, it was determined that if everyone on the planet lived a similar lifestyle to my own, it would require 5.28 earths to meet their needs. This is a rather shocking statistic, and to me the most appalling part is that I fell below the Canadian national average. In terms of my money spending habits, I have actually done fairly well since coming to Guelph. I have only spent a couple hundred dollars. Nonetheless, I support the message behind Buy Nothing Day and I think it’s great that awareness about over consumption is spreading and increasing, but in all honesty I can’t see myself participating very actively in this protest against consumerism.
http://www.adbusters.org/campaigns/bnd
Shah, Anup. "Effects of Over-Consumption and Increasing Populations." Global Issues. 26 Sept. 2001. 23 Nov. 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buy_Nothing_Day
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