International Day of No Buy

The first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Canada in September 1992 as a day to examine the problem of excessive consumption. In 1997, it was moved to the Friday after American Thanksgiving, also known as Black Friday, which is one of the ten busiest shopping days not only in the United States.

According to estimates, Czech customers spend about five to six thousand crowns during Black Friday, while the average annual donation for charity projects is around 500 crowns. Czechs have the opportunity to reflect on where they send their money, as evidenced by the amount of 95 million crowns raised for charity projects during Giving Tuesday, compared to the up to seven billion spent on Black Friday.

What started as a day full of discounts has turned into a week or even a month dedicated to shopping and consumption. People buy goods that end up discarded in the back of the closet or even in landfills, often with so-called fake discounts. Every year, the media warns against fake discounts that are typical for Black Friday. According to retailers, discounts can reach up to 80%, but in the Czech market, real discounts only reach about 19%. Retailers inflate the price of goods and calculate the discount from this higher amount.

Instead of unnecessary spending, support organizations like Ukliďme Česko, which not only organizes volunteer clean-ups but also focuses on innovative projects for environmental protection, such as www.KAMsNIM.cz or www.EKOkalendar.cz.

The beginnings of Buy Nothing Day were not easy. In 2000, some advertisements supporting Buy Nothing Day were denied advertising time by almost all major television networks, except for CNN. However, the campaign soon began to appear in the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Japan, the Netherlands, France, Norway, Finland, and now practically all over the world.

And above all, remember that if you don't buy any junk, you don't have to worry about where to put it.