A Holiday Concept You Just Can’t Buy

If you bought something today--even this newspaper--you’ve already blown it.

Today is the First Annual Buy Nothing Day. How to celebrate? Well, by not celebrating. Keep your checkbook, credit cards and currency tucked in your pocket. Don’t buy lunch. Lug it. Don’t fill the gas tank. Bike it. And hardest of all, don’t stop at the mall. Skip it.

This proposed spending moratorium is the brainstorm of Ted Dave, a Vancouver-based graphic artist whose crusade is co-sponsored by the Canadian consumer group Media Foundation. The organization recently ran a full-page ad for “Buy Nothing Day” in several small consumer magazines.

Dave said he picked today because he believes the big Christmas selling season begins three months before Christmas. By keeping the cash registers quiet for just 24 hours, he says, consumers may think more about the things they purchase tomorrow. A handful of stores--mostly in Canada--have even agreed to stay closed for the 24-hour period.