BLACK FRIDAY IS ABOUT SHOPPING, YOU CAN DO NOTHING ABOUT IT!
Founded in Canada, BUY NOTHING DAY launched in 1992 as a protest against consumerism and the holiday shopping madness. Since then, BUY NOTHING DAY has inspired worldwide personal and collective action against consumerism. The holiday is celebrated every year by millions of people in more than 60 countries, including the United Kingdom, Sweden, Japan and Latvia. http://www.buynothingday.co.uk/
PARTICIPATE BY NOT PARTICIPATING
On the 26th of November Latvian team [Krišjānis, Sarmīte and Ruta] in collaboration with environmental organizations „Zaļā brīvība” and „Homo ecos:” as part of the initiative „Repair Cafe” invited everybody to take part in BUY NOTHING DAY at one of the free-spirited places in Riga - Kaņepes Kultūras Centrs.
The day started with a lecture by designer Toms Mazjānis, which was about the upcycling projects he has implemented. After presentation everyone was free to ask questions about upcycling and how can a person take part or initiate an upcycling project.
PARTICIPATE BY NOT PARTICIPATING
On the 26th of November Latvian team [Krišjānis, Sarmīte and Ruta] in collaboration with environmental organizations „Zaļā brīvība” and „Homo ecos:” as part of the initiative „Repair Cafe” invited everybody to take part in BUY NOTHING DAY at one of the free-spirited places in Riga - Kaņepes Kultūras Centrs.
The day started with a lecture by designer Toms Mazjānis, which was about the upcycling projects he has implemented. After presentation everyone was free to ask questions about upcycling and how can a person take part or initiate an upcycling project.
Then upcycling workshops followed, where people learned how to turn their old products into entirely new ones. Everyone was welcome to participate in Do-It-Yourself workshops and leave with own made:
- Christmas decorations [By using recycled materials such as old Christmas cards, calendars and natural materials such as pinecones, branches and moss - participants could make ornaments and decorations for their own Christmas tree or house.] - Buckwheat pillows [Eco-friendly, inexpensive, sustainable – all these words describe buckwheat pillow which participants made by using only buckwheat hull, second-hand fabric and sewing machine.] - Paper [Participants had a chance to learn how to recycle paper in 5 easy steps - cutting up old, used paper, mixing, sieving, pressing and drying!] |
After the creative workshops we hosted a screening of the documentary „Minimalism: a film about the important things”, which asks the question: how might your life be better with less? [Trailer: http://minimalismfilm.com/]
By celebrating BUY NOTHING DAY the organizers wanted to show that by using recycled materials, not only can a person save money, but it is also possible to break the crazy consumerist cycle as well. (Not to even mention benefits for the environment) Of course, BUY NOTHING DAY isn't about changing your lifestyle for just one day - we want it to be a lasting relationship or maybe a life changing experience! We want people to make a commitment to shopping less and living more. BUY NOTHING DAY is about rediscovering what it means to live freely.
By celebrating BUY NOTHING DAY the organizers wanted to show that by using recycled materials, not only can a person save money, but it is also possible to break the crazy consumerist cycle as well. (Not to even mention benefits for the environment) Of course, BUY NOTHING DAY isn't about changing your lifestyle for just one day - we want it to be a lasting relationship or maybe a life changing experience! We want people to make a commitment to shopping less and living more. BUY NOTHING DAY is about rediscovering what it means to live freely.
Experience of the organizers
Ruta: “I was responsible that everyone has a restful sleep or in other words I was showing participants how to make their own perfect buckwheat pillows using sewing machine. It was a challenge since many participants used the sewing machine for the first time. Guiding people what to do, reminded me how important is to have patience and ability to encourage everyone to always work at their best. Also, technique “Show, don't tell” goes a long way. Apart from that, I also was looking not to make BUY NOTHING DAY into a horror movie. Because of needles, pins and blades extra safety is never a bad idea.”
Krišjānis: My main responsibilities laid towards the organizational end of the event. As I had been working with Repair Cafe initiative for a while, I was focusing on finding and communicating with the experts leading workshops and doing repairs. In addition this event required to acquire various materials to use for upcycling (mainly for free), which I was responsible for. During the event I partly helped with paper making workshop, partly oversaw things running smoothly in general and partly enjoyed myself. As an experience it was rewarding to see so many people from different age groups being aware and interested about the concept and sustainable lifestyle in general.
Sarmīte: My main responsibility was to participate in a workshop about making pillows with buckwheat toghether with Ruta. While being there, I was communicating with people, telling them about the main idea of the event and encouraging people to make their own pillows from different materials, that were given to us. I also helped out to find the right materials and tools for creating the pillows. People were quite interested and some of them even took the pillows home, to finish them. I noticed, that people are willing to create hand-made things from already used materials and materials that farmers don't need anymore. Intersting, that one fourth of the participants were also using sewing machine for their first time.
Krišjānis: My main responsibilities laid towards the organizational end of the event. As I had been working with Repair Cafe initiative for a while, I was focusing on finding and communicating with the experts leading workshops and doing repairs. In addition this event required to acquire various materials to use for upcycling (mainly for free), which I was responsible for. During the event I partly helped with paper making workshop, partly oversaw things running smoothly in general and partly enjoyed myself. As an experience it was rewarding to see so many people from different age groups being aware and interested about the concept and sustainable lifestyle in general.
Sarmīte: My main responsibility was to participate in a workshop about making pillows with buckwheat toghether with Ruta. While being there, I was communicating with people, telling them about the main idea of the event and encouraging people to make their own pillows from different materials, that were given to us. I also helped out to find the right materials and tools for creating the pillows. People were quite interested and some of them even took the pillows home, to finish them. I noticed, that people are willing to create hand-made things from already used materials and materials that farmers don't need anymore. Intersting, that one fourth of the participants were also using sewing machine for their first time.
This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.