Yes - Buy Nothing Day is coming up again on November 28 (or November 27 for our USA visitors).  This is a great time to practice a little restraint and especially with Christmas coming up we all need a psychological break from Santa and his reindeer.

We’re asking tens of millions of people around the world to bring the capitalist consumption machine to a grinding – if only momentary – halt.

We want you to not only stop buying for 24 hours, but to shut off your lights, televisions and other nonessential appliances. We want you to park your car, turn off your phones and log off of your computer for the day.

We’re calling for a Ramadan-like fast. From sunrise to sunset we’ll abstain en masse, not only from holiday shopping, but from all the temptations of our five-planet lifestyles.

As difficult as this might seem to people, the not actually buying things is very very easy. Make sure you pack your lunch for work, and take drinks from home to the office or make use of the tea/coffee supplies if they have them. Make sure you have enough petrol the day or two before and plan what you will eat for dinner so you don’t just “pop up to the shops” for some eggs or milk.

While travelling around this may be hard to avoid purchasing food or even purchasing accommodation for the night, but if you are travelling you could consider only using cash for the day and use only small local shops and businesses.

My plan for BUY NOTHING DAY is exactly that – I will buy nothing. The day before I will make sure I have my food supplies ready and then that is it. I won’t use my computer, will not access the internet, will not have my phone turned on and plan to walk as much as I can for the day.

What are you plans for the day? Are you able to do a couple of things to make a small difference? let us know!