Get Ready to BUY NOTHING!

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This Friday, November 28 is BUY NOTHING DAY. For 17 years environmentalists have been asking people to buy nothing on what is called Black Friday, the Friday following American Thanksgiving and the unofficial start of the international holiday shopping season.

Unfortunately, it's not really shocking that the word “Bailout” was looked up so many times this year that it has been chosen Merriam-Webster’s 2008 Word of the Year.

The current financial meltdown is not just about toxic derivatives or unregulated markets says Kalle Lasn, co-founder of Adbusters Media Foundation, “It’s really about culture….our culture of excess and meaningless consumption.” “A simpler, pared-down lifestyle – one in which we’re not drowning in debt – may well be the answer to this crisis we’re in,” says Lasn. “Living within our means will also make us happier and healthier than we’ve been in years.”

An Illinois auto dealer is offering a two for one sale. Under the deal, shoppers who pay the sticker prices for gas guzzling 2008 Dodge Chargers, Rams, Grand Caravans or Dakota trucks can get a compact, intermediate or minivan for $1.
What exactly does that say about the price of these vehicles and what does it say about a culture that would be causing the phone at this dealership to be ringing off the hook?
No doubt someone is going to be looking up “bailout” in the Merriam-Webster dictionary!

I have written previously that we as a culture really, really need to de-stuff.

Bring in the therapy! Want some help?

Check out Spendster.org, “a safe haven—a confessional” where you can confess things you shouldn’t have bought. Run by the National Endowment for Financial Education, it’s non-commercial and non-profit. It’s safe, honest, and probably pretty therapeutic. There are some pretty funny confessions there.

I’m in the Worst Shape of my Life


Thinking of buying a new cell phone? Check out INFORM's The Secret Life Series, a collection of videos highlighting the environmental impacts of everyday products.



And if that hasn’t done it, see The Story of Stuff and sign up for their newsletters.
The Story of Stuff has been viewed over 4.5 million times by people in 227 countries and territories around the world.



Buy Nothing ---Granny Knows



So if someone tries to sell you on the idea that you are what you buy, remember your Buy Nothing granny........You are Not what you Buy!