Buy Nothing Day Argumentation Essay

“Buy Nothing Day”

In 1992 the first Buy Nothing Day was initiated in Canada. This “Buy Nothing Day” was an attempt to have a 24 hour consumer detox in order to expose the environmental and ethical consequences of overconsumption. Since then a Buy Nothing Day has been held annually in many nations. With the installment of an annual Buy Nothing day in many countries it is obvious to see why many business take a hard hit and can take a serious toll on a day in which no goods are purchased.

The negative environmental and ethical impacts of consumerism cannot be denied. However, many people remain ignorant to what should be common knowledge. By participating in a Buy Nothing Day, in which the consumer literally buys absolutely nothing for one day, these consumers have no choice but to acknowledge the extent of the purchased goods they take for granted on a daily basis.

As far as the specific negative effects on consumerism go, the environmental impact can be considered the most widespread, in that it affects everyone. Each day, millions of consumers buy or receive what can best be described as being useless junk. After this junk has served it’s purpose many simply throw it away, but what they don’t know is that this trash gets thrown into landfills, oceans, rivers, and forests and kills wildlife and the environment in the process. By not buying these useless products for at least one day out of a year, such as the “Buy Nothing Day” in Canada, we can decrease the amount of pollution on our environment even if not by much every bit counts.

Buy Nothing Day also helps to encourage ethical enlightenment of our societies consumer based lifestyle. The economic consequences of our overconsumption has become unbearable for our society. One example can be seen in the recent economic recession in America as it has proved to be a disaster for middle class families which make up the majority of consumers