 "Photo: Jeb Draper")
The day after Thanksgiving is touted as the biggest shopping day of the year, with commercials piled on consumers in the days preceding it urging them to buy this and that. While some people will be waiting in lines winding around the registers and into the aisles, others will be abstaining from shopping altogether.
For people involved in some sustainability movements, Black Friday is also known as “Buy Nothing Day.” To take a stand against mass consumerism, participants do not go out to malls or department stores.
For the third year running, the Chico Peace and Justice Center will be open on “Buy Nothing Day” to promote buying fair trade items.
Certified fair trade is a way to support farmers, growers and artisans in a fair and socially just way, said Lisa Sun, Chico Peace and Justice Center volunteer coordinator.
“If you go into Wal-Mart you might find a shirt for $4, but there’s no way the person who made it is making enough money to live on,” Sun said.
Though the center supports “Buy Nothing Day,” members choose to stay open because they are realistic about people’s shopping habits, said Chico Peace and Justice Center Director Sue Hilderbrand.
“We support ‘Buy Nothing’ and we encourage ‘Buy Nothing Day’ but the reality is people are going to buy things,” Hilderbrand said. “Through the fair trade store we offer an alternative and we engage people in the whole conversation about fair trade.”
Shopping on Black Friday has become a family tradition in much of American society and Hilderbrand wants to change that through education about what fair trade is and how buying fair trade products can benefit others.
In the past, the center wasn’t typically open on Black Friday, but in an effort to encourage fair trade they decided to stay open, Hilderbrand said.
“We want to sort of inject the idea of fair trade and where your items are coming from on that day,” she said.
The Chico Peace and Justice Center’s fair trade store will sell chocolate, hats, soap and other items, Hilderbrand said. This year, the center focused on ordering less expensive items because of the poor economic situation.
Hilderbrand thinks people are starting to catch on to the idea of fair trade and companies are noticing, but not caring. Since the people boycotting Black Friday make up such a small portion of the population, the companies have not really felt the effects, yet. For real change to occur, consumers must start demanding change, Hilderbrand said.
“Big corporations are destroying the environment and communities around the world in order to give us cheap crap,” Hilderbrand said.
The A.S. Sustainability and Recycling Office Manager Brionne Saseen has been practicing “Buy Nothing Day” for about eight years, she said. The day, initially promoted more than 20 years ago by Adbusters, an anti-consumerism magazine, seeks to make a statement against the way consumerism has become entrenched in society.
“The more people that don’t shop on that day will make a large economic impact on the industries,” Saseen said. “Our consumerism is unsustainable both socially and environmentally.”
Saseen thinks the state of the economy will also affect how much people buy this year, she said. Instead of buying new items from stores, she suggests making presents or offering services to family members, such as helping in the garden.
Other alternatives are re-gifting, giving away items or even making a donation in someone’s name. Buying locally and responsibly are two ideas Saseen discussed. She thinks where people choose to spend, or not spend, their money will make a difference.
By making fair-trade purchases, consumers create more demand for those items and less demand for other things, Saseen said.
“I don’t plan on purchasing anything for anyone this year,” Saseen said. “That doesn’t mean I won’t be giving presents.”
Bianca Hernandez can be reached at
bhernandez@theorion.com
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