Buy Nothing Day Environmental Analysis

Andrew Leonard's "Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization" argues that the Black Friday shopping spree has begun to get out of hand in the previous years. Leonard explains that consumerism is a great thing for America, but showing Americans that it is okay to go crazy when shopping for deals is not the way to approach the buying markets. He mentions a Target advertisement and states that, "The Crazy Target Lady is not a joke. Watch her cannibalize her gingerbread man, or strategize her reverse psychology shopping techniques... she is America. She might be a lunatic, but it's a culturally approved lunacy" (Leonard 166). The author emphasizes how Americans embrace the acts of the target lady as funny and amusing, but during Black Friday shopping, some shoppers will take the night to the extreme like the advertisement does. He does remind us that there is light at the end of the tunnel, by reporting how shoppers are seeing the problems with the night of crazy shopping. I agree with Leonard that there are problems with Black Friday ads, and that consumers are realizing Black Friday shopping is taking away from Thanksgiving.

Black Friday shopping is a controversial issue in the United States; while many believe the day after Thanksgiving is a part of holiday festivities, others view it as destructive. Throughout “Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization,” Andrew Leonard argues that the chaos of Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving in which crowds of Americans shop all night for extremely low prices, lessens the sophistication of Americans and the true meaning of the holidays. People become so consumed in the idea of endless sale prices that they forget to embrace what they already have, such as family, food, and shelter. He believes that Black Friday shopping has become out of control and describes the negative effects of excessive consumerism. he explains how most consumers act completely insane while Black Friday shopping and how society encourages this behavior by creating commercials and advertisements. Furthermore, Leonard states that it hurts the economy and damages one’s mental health. While Leonard is probably wrong when he claims that Black Friday shopping is completely troublesome to America’s well-being, he is right that consumerism overpowers the true significance of Thanksgiving.

Consumer culture today is thriving – but not necessarily in a good way. As consumer culture thrives, we have desires for products and services. Consumer spending is a major part of a country’s/world’s economy and that makes the economy strong but the aftermath is an unsustainable lifestyle. Although, Wall-E didn’t indicate exactly what caused consumers to destroy the planet and then flee for the sake of human survival, there are many guesses that can be made as to how it happened. One of the major points made in class during week eight was the fact that the world is becoming overpopulated. This major issue can possibly be

Black Friday is the following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, traditionally the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Black Friday is not an official holiday, but many workers have the day off as part of the Thanksgiving holiday, this increases the number of potential shoppers. Retailers often decorate for the Christmas and holiday season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open extremely early, with most of the retailers typically opening at 5 A.M. or even earlier. Retailers use Black Friday to kick off the holiday season to use much of their products to go from the red to the black.

Quindlen starts her essay by stating that at a Wal-Mart in Valley Stream, New York, a worker was trampled to death by a horde of excited shoppers during Black Friday; the day after Thanksgiving when stores hold massive sales for the holiday season (Par. 2). She then goes on to talk about credit card debt and gives various examples of people buying different versions of items they

Shopping has become a daily activity which happens a billion times in America and around the world. We cannot imagine how our lives would be affected if shopping was suddenly stopped. Malcolm Gladwell and Anne Norton both write articles about two sides of modern day shopping: how consumers have impacted the retail industry and how the industry influences consumers. In the article " The Science of Shopping," Malcolm Gladwell, a well-known writer and journalist, analyzes the shopping behaviors of customers and how retailers can lure customers; while Anne Norton, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, in

Because advertisements are purposely placed to be seen, it has become a part of our lives. Even when watching television there are constantly commercials trying to convince us to buy items that are often of a lower price. I’ve noticed that in these commercials they use tactics in order to try to engage the viewer. Not only do they show a low price but they often include multiple copies of the same item. For example, if there was a commercial about pillows, they would often include more than one of them for the same price. This makes people think they are getting an extremely good deal because more quantity for the same price. However, these items tend to be of low quality. As a result they may need to be constantly replaced and thrown away. This leads to a cycle of a company to sell, the consumer to buy, and to replace. In the process, these unwanted items are being thrown in landfills and polluting the Earth. As it mentions in, Bookmarks, Possessed by Our Possessions, “Passively buying into production practices that contribute to poisonous waste every time we go shopping depletes the earth in the process” (Cole 4). This statement is extremely accurate, especially in America. Although we have only 5% of the world’s population, we consume 30 percent of the world’s resources. And because of this, we also produce 30

In reading Anna Quindlen’s¬¬ 2008 op-ed, “Stuff Is Not Salvation”, she briefs the reader on the horrors of American consumerism. Her piece starts with a morbid detail of a Wal-Mart employee that was trampled to death during a Black Friday Sale. She goes on to summarize how the shoppers continued to grab items even after the management announced that the store was closed. Quindlen also sprinkles her work with several statistics. Though there are many valid points that these statistics bring, she doesn’t provide a reference nor citation to these points. Quindlen also has a small scope on those whom live frugal and fruitfully. Quindlen focuses only a handful of personal experiences, mentioning friends who falter, and small rural farmers in Pennsylvania.

The rise of industrialization and manufacturing that began in the eighteenth century has drastically changed the lifestyles of the world. No longer do citizens find, make, or trade for everything they need at home and in their local communities, but instead they rely on national and global commerce to provide for them. This shift in production is the basis for the annual Buy Nothing Day, which attempts to reverse the ill effects of gross consumerism and spread awareness of the issues in our current lifestyles. While many critics would point to the fact that one day will provide little to no discernable impact on the problems faced, Buy Nothing Day will produce greater effects through the awareness it provides than any actual deeds committed on that singular day.

Many people against Buy Nothing Day would argue that times are times are hard and having such a day would have a negative effect on an already crumbling economy, but such thoughts are illogical. If someone were going to

Consumerism is the center of American culture. Americans tend to confuse their wants with their needs. With new advances in technology, as well as the help of advertisers, people are provided with easy access to new products that seem essential to their everyday life, even though they have survived this long without them. People cannot live without food, clothing, and shelter. But realistically, according to people's different lifestyles, more than food, clothing, and shelter are needed. Most people need to work to survive. Unless a job is either in their own home, or within walking distance, a means of transportation is needed. Whether it be a vehicle, money for a taxi-cab, or a token for a ride on the subway, money must be spent

Consumerism is damaging to our society, in our North American society consumerism is often portrayed to be a negative aspect of people’s lives. However, one can also argue positive effects that result from consumerism, or emphasize on the negative effects of consumerism and how it can be a constraining force in one’s own life. Consumerism is an idea of an economic policy that the market is shaped by the choice of the consumer and continues to emerge to shape the world’s mass markets. Some of the negative effects of consumerism that many critics may argue and that will be further emphasized on are the overexploitation of consumerism which has lead to economic poverty, and increase

Unfortunately there are consequences that arise when a consumer has been greenwashed. These consequences are that consumers ultimately spend more money on products that they believe stand true, and when purchasing these products the consumer is supporting companies that are harming the environment. Downing et al. states that, “learning how to read advertising critically thus provides individuals with important tools for interpreting contemporary American culture and avoiding manipulation. Ads are complex texts, the images, words, framing devices, and

As a country, America has forced the holidays to become a marketing technique. Valentine’s Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas seem like just another way for companies to make even more money than before. In the essay, Black Friday: Consumerism Minus Civilization by Andrew Leonard published on wwnorton.com/write/fieldguidelinks, he argues the point that Black Friday and Black Friday advertisements are taking away from Thanksgiving. Leonard’s argument was somewhat effective. He may have influenced American shoppers to focus less on the deals of black friday and to instead spend the time with their family on Thanksgiving as it should be.

The purpose of this research is to examine consumer behavior on Black Friday. Black Friday is typically the busiest shopping day of the year, and it is all driven by the chance for consumers to save the most amount of money possible while getting their holiday shopping done. Research was done online, and also through personal experiences. By understanding what retailers and consumers hope to accomplish on this day can have a positive impact on everyone. Consumers are able to get what they want with the least amount of turmoil, and retailers are able to turn a profit. This research can be most helpful to merchants, as it will help them to understand what a consumer