Buy Differently.

The month of November hosts Buy Nothing Day. I've received a few notices in my inbox reminding me to join up so that I can do nothing. It's an interesting concept and probably a necessary red flag to be waved in front of our bull of consumerism rampaging its way through the globe's china shop.

I'm a big fan of planting flags. But I've never been a big fan of the Buy Nothing Days and Christmases along with their associated campaigns. And you'd think that as the publisher of a no-ads arts magazine, this would be right up my billboard-free alley.

For one thing, it is a bad assumption that when you're on the internet today, you are buying nothing. I hear the same arguments for giving up paper magazines, as if the internet is available to everyone and doesn't have an environmental impact. Consider all the yucky parts and use of electricity as we all promote buying nothing on our plastic keyboards.

I can't quite put my finger on it - it's nothing after all, but there are a few things that make me less than enthusiastic. The places these campaigns originate from are often preachy and vitriolic. A good sermon motivates and inspires. These make me yawn like the hell-and-brimstone spitters of my youth. It is an either/or conversation and I'd like to hear something that pulls folks together. Maybe that's why I'm more fond of things like the Lights Out campaigns which has us seeing what our something - internet, television, appliances - is really doing.   

I also  know a whole lot of people that are very conscious of their purchasing decisions which is part of the pleasure of working with our contributors and volunteers. They don't blame everything on someone or some place else and they work to create beauty and meaning in their own little corners of the world. And some of those things - art, music, writing, etc. - need support They need someone thoughtful to trade a little something for their efforts.

And as the publisher of that no-ads arts magazine, I'd like someone to come up with a Buy Less, but Buy Different day. Take the time to purchase a little piece of art from a small gallery. When you buy something, leave the bag behind. Find out where your food comes frome. Subscribe to, let's say,  a no-ads volunteer run arts magazine . Those small differences that come with the way we trade with other human beings add up to a lot more than nothing.