FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What can I do?
Literally, doing nothing is doing something! However, committing to consuming less is a start. Check out the web site and think about ways of joining in - set up a campaign group, check out the TOOLKIT page on how. Most importantly have great fun and tell people about Buy Nothing Day.

What is Buy Nothing Day all about?
Buy Nothing Day (November 24th 2007 UK), is a simple idea, which challenges consumer culture by asking us to switch off from shopping for a day. Its a global stand off from consumerism - celebrated as a holiday by some and street party for others! Anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending!

Where did Buy Nothing Day come from?
To prevent arguments Buy Nothing Day started as a protest against consumerism and globalisaion even before wild wild web was invented! Buy Nothing Day is now an international event celebrated all over the world in different time zones and currencies.

What's the point?
As consumers, we should question the products we buy and the companies who produce them. The idea is to make people stop and think about what and how much they buy effects the environment and developing countries.

Who runs it?
You do - it's your day - so get involved! Tell all your friends, put up posters and refuse to shop on November 24th 2007. The BND-UK site is part of global network of campaigns - see the links to the left for more BND sites around the world.

Why is there two different dates/days?
In Canada and America Buy Nothing Day falls the Friday after Thanks Giving Day. In Europe we hold our celebration The last Saturday in November. We're always out shopping on Saturday, so it makes sense.

But what will I achieve?
It's incredibly challenging to last 24 hours without spending any money. You'll feel detoxed from shopping and realise how much it uses up your free time. For 24 hours you'll get your life back and that's a big achievement! We want you to make a commitment to consuming less, recycling more and challenging corporations to clean up and be fair. Modern consumerism might offer great choice, but this shouldn't be at the cost of the environment or developing countries.

Do you want me to stop shopping altogether?
It won't hurt to stop for one day and we don't expect the UK to grind to a halt. We want to challenge you to think about the effects of what you buy has on the environment and developing countries.

What is so bad about shopping?
It's not shopping in itself that's so harmful, it's what we buy. The two areas that we need to concentrate on are the environment and poverty. The rich western countries - only 20% of the world population are consuming over 80% of the earth's natural resources, causing a disproportionate level of environmental damage and unfair distribution of wealth. We need to worry about the way our goods are produced. Increasingly large companies use labour in developing countries to produce goods because its cheap and there aren't the systems to protect workers like there are in the west.

What about the environment?
This is a big issue for consumers who are constantly forced to buy unnecessary packaging waste that the big stores and supermarkets produce. Much of this waste is passed onto the consumer who has no choice at the point of purchase . Supermarkets are the worst offenders offloading tonnes of pointless packaging onto consumers who are then trusted to recycle it. Tha challenge to supermarkets and big stores is to remove unnecessary packaging from their stores. The raw materials and production methods that are used to make so many of our goods have harmful side affects such as toxic waste, destruction of wild life, and wasted energy. The transport of food by air also contributes to pollution especially when many products can be produced at home.

Is one day really going to make a difference?
Buy Nothing Day isn't about changing your lifestyle for just one day - it's a lasting relationship - maybe a life changing experience! We aim to make Buy Nothing Day stick in your mind so you think about what you buy and the impact it has on the environment.

Is Buy Nothing Day successful?
Absolutely, and it's getting bigger and better every year!

Thanks to Tom Webster.