There’s only one way to avoid the collapse of this human experiment of ours on Planet Earth: we have to consume less. (Adbusters)

And so another shopping season is upon us. With a major gift-giving holiday around the corner and retailers fighting to grab the public’s attention with their door-crasher deals, it’s a good time to pause and say, ‘That’s enough.”

Enter Buy Nothing Day, a day of action and resistance against commercial culture, fueled by fed-up people who are suggesting an alternative to mindless shopping sprees. In North America this year, the day falls on November 27.

BND is commonly observed by refraining from making consumer purchases for 24 hours and/or joining a group demonstration to spread the message. But the overall purpose of the day is to make people think about their daily consumer habits and promote being a responsible consumer all year round.

“On one side we constantly hear that the only way we can climb out of the current economic downturn is to buy our way out,” says Keith Treffry, Director of Communications at Earth Day Canada. “On the other hand, it is this very act of consuming our way to prosperity that is creating such an environmental mess in the first place.”

Events
If you want to join a Buy Nothing Day event, check out Adbusters’ event listings. Can’t find one in your city? Do a web search, check Facebook or start your own!

I’m a student of economy for international cooperation. I’m working on my thesis about corporate greenwashing and I would like to ask you a couple of things:

1- which are the 10 best greenwashers of 2009?
2- where can I get more info about greenwashing?

Thanks for your question Sara. In short, “greenwashing” is the dubious practice of marketing your product, service, or company as environmental when it is not.

Earth Day Canada brought needed attention to the issue of greenwashing in a press release last April. Here are Earth Day Canada’s Red Flags of Greenwashing:

1. No proof claims – A food producer claims their products are organic, but provides no third party accreditation as proof.
2. Vague claims – A lighter manufacturer produces an ‘eco-lighter’ and positions the product as being ‘environmentally friendly’, but provides no further explanation or product information.
3. Irrelevant claims – A new aerosol product claims to be CFC (chlorofluorocarbon) free, a chemical banned over 30 years ago as it depletes the ozone.
4. Confusing claims – A paper towel producer modifies their product to become more ‘eco-friendly’, but only change how the product is presented, not the manufacturing process or the materials used to develop the product.
5. The cloaking effect – A coffee house brands their disposable and recyclable coffee cup as the ‘eco-cup’, masking an environmentally unfriendly product with a green name.

Good luck putting your thesis together, Sara. Let us know how it goes :]

For additional resources I recommend consulting:

TerraChoice – Ecologo Program
In Canada, this is the go to resource to learn more about greenwashing.

Greenwashing Index
This American-based website hosts samples of advertising campaigns of some of the worst offenders.