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Watch Yourself this Buy Nothing Day

By Sarah Smith

I heard about Buy Nothing Day a year ago at the first Student Environment Centre meeting I attended at UBC. I volunteered to help organise a Stuff Swap event to celebrate BND and my involvement with the project had a profound effect on the way I thought about my consumption practices.

The reasons behind Buy Nothing Day are complex. In its 13th year, BND is a global initiative. It is a day to not participate in the frenetic consumer-binge that has become central to our culture. But instead of tackling the enormous economic, social and political issues upon which BND is based, the first step to participating in Buy Nothing Day is to start thinking about your consumption patterns.

Last year I began asking myself some basic but important questions. What or whom am I supporting by buying my produce from Safeway? From Capers? Why do I feel the need to continually buy more for my apartment, car or closet? On what do I base my ideas of happiness? Being honest with myself as I answer these questions continues to be difficult.

We are socialised from infancy to be consumers. Marketing companies target young television audiences, as we see in the documentary “The Corporation,