If all of the gift-giving at Christmastime gets to be too
much, you might want to consider having a Buy Nothing Christmas.
Buy Nothing is a movement started by a group of Mennonites in
Western Canada in 2001 as a way of saying no “to the patterns of
over-consumption of middle-class North Americans,” says its website,
buynothingchristmas.org.
(Representatives from the site could not be reached for an
interview.)
Ashley Cameron is a local supporter of a Buy Nothing Christmas.
“It really bugs me how much consumerism has engulfed what Christmas
represents,” says the 21-year-old from Halifax. “I thought this was a
way I could support my beliefs.”
Cameron is a Christian whose faith is very important to her.
“To me, Christmas is supposed to represent Jesus’ birth. I feel the
world has taken advantage of that and taken money from it. And then
you’ve got Santa Claus and stuff. They’ve built it into something it
wasn’t supposed to be. So I’m trying not to support that.”
But it isn’t just faith-minded people who are into the idea of
removing the consumerism from Christmas. Brad Milligan is a 26-year-old
atheist and anti-capitalist from Halifax.
Last year, he had what he called a “China-free Christmas,” meaning
the gifts he bought for the four people on his list had to be locally
made. His China-free Christmas is expanding this year—he won’t be
buying or receiving Christmas gifts at all. He says that even if he was
religious, he doesn’t understand why that translates to buying stuff at
Christmas.
“I still don’t see [why] I should go out to Walmart and purchase
gifts for my friends and loved ones that were made in China,” he says.
“I’ve never been able to make that connection.”
But isn’t not buying gifts bad for our economy?
“Yes, and now we’re getting close to the core reasons for why Buy
Nothing Christmas is necessary in the first place,” says the Buy
Nothing Christmas website. “Our economy is based on a consumer driven
capitalism…if we stop shopping, we stop the economy.”
Simply put, our economy depends on people to buy stuff, both stuff
they need and crap they don’t need. But even a Buy Nothing Christmas
recognizes that some things need to be purchased, as does Cameron.
“I might make some gifts for people,” she says, allowing that making
things can require certain purchases, “but I’m not going to be buying
any new items for anybody.” Cameron says these gifts will have meaning
and purpose.
But if you feel you need to purchase something this Christmas, you
might keep in mind a few things, as endorsed by the Buy Nothing folks:
Stick to locally, fairly traded goods in environmentally friendly
packaging, recycling or re-using, or buying items that are built to
last.
This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2009.