Haveyou heard of "Buy Nothing Day"? Do you think you can't spend a coinon that day?
Thisholiday encourages people to stop buying things. It began in the 1990s inVancouver, Canada. It was the idea of a man named Kalle Lasn. After working formany years in advertising (广告业), Lasn began to questionthe ways advertisers influenced people to buy things.
Lasnknows that people need to buy things. They have to buy things to eat, live andeven enjoy life. But Lasn believes that many companies encourage people to buyfar more than is necessary. He thinksit hurts people and culture.
Lasntries to help people understand some of the wrong values and ideas behindadvertising. The main value he fights is the idea, "You must buy more tobe happy." Encouraging people to celebrate "Buy Nothing Day" isone idea he came up with.
"BuyNothing Day" is celebrated on the fourth Friday of every November. Lasnchose this day for a very important reason. It is one of the biggest shoppingdays of the year. Advertisers call this day Black Friday. The first "BuyNothing Day" was celebrated in Canada in 1992. Many other countries alsohave growing problems with too much consumption (消费). Now, over sixtydifferent countries, including the USA, the UK, Germany, France, Japan, arecelebrating "Buy Nothing Day".
Somepeople doubt if "Buy Nothing Day" can really change culture. It isonly one day, they say. Other people say that consumers should not just buyless, but they should buy better. These people encourage consumers to buythings made in environment-friendly ways. But "Buy Nothing Day" does getpeople thinking about the negative ( 负面的) influences of buyingtoo much.