Buy Better Day

I love the idea of Buy Nothing Day (emergency surgical supplies excepted, of course).  The next one is due at the end of November (Nov 29th USA, Nov 30th elsewhere).  It’s a great opportunity to carve out space in the consumer crush and place a question mark against what Adbusters’ Kalle Lasn calls ‘our culture of excess’. 

There are those who say that buying less would be a disaster.  I imagine the world will survive for one day, though.  Shops are important, but they don’t hold up the sky. 

However, even if everyone had a good go at buying nothing, the marketing machine would still find a way round it.  Check out this clip.

Plus, Breathe is about more than just refusing to buy.  If Breathe had a day, it would be Buy Better Day. 

• Buy Better in the sense of buying local, which may be more expensive (though it could save on petrol). 
• Buy Better in the sense of Fair Trade (which may not be local but is still important). 
• Buy Better in the sense of…better.  Buy things that last longer and we’re less likely to throw away. 
• Buy Better in the best sense – buy something and then give it away as a gift!

Buy Better Day.  We could buy less, but what we buy could be better.  Net economic cost: nothing (the same amount of money is pumped into the economy).  Social, environmental and community benefit: huge.

So that’s the idea.  All we need now is a date.