Happy Buy Nothing Day!

From the all-knowing Wikipedia:

Buy Nothing Day is an informal day of protest against consumerism observed by social activists. In 2007, Buy Nothing Day falls on November 23rd in North America and November 24th internationally.[1] It was founded by Vancouver artist Ted Dave and subsequently promoted by the Canadian Adbusters magazine.
The first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Vancouver in September of 1992 "as a day for society to examine the issue of over-consumption."[2] In 1997, it was moved to the Friday after American Thanksgiving, which is one of the top 10 busiest shopping days in the United States. Outside of North America, Buy Nothing Day is celebrated on the following Saturday. Despite controversies, Adbusters managed to advertise Buy Nothing Day on CNN, but many other major television networks declined to air their ads.[3] Soon, campaigns started appearing in United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, the Netherlands, and Norway. Participation now includes more than 65 nations.[4]
While critics of the day charge that Buy Nothing Day simply causes participants to buy the next day,[5] Adbusters states that it "isn't just about changing your habits for one day" but "about starting a lasting lifestyle commitment to consuming less and producing less waste."[

http://adbusters.org/metas/eco/bnd/


While I agree that it isn't about changing your habits for one day, it DOES make you realize during that 24 hours how much you do actually shop in one day! Gas, coffee at Second Cup, groceries...its all spending!

Unfortunately I am not participating, I have to gas up the car for Calgary this morning. Point in case tho, I just would have bought it yesterday instead of today, not really a mind-bending shift in my spending reality ;)

Tomorrow is the international date, feel free to challenge yourself!