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Buy Nothing Day 1998:
Buy Nothing Day in Lancaster, UK

Nov. 30, 1998

Picture the scene - it's late in the afternoon before the action, there is a few posters ready - but thats it. Only 6 people turned up to that emergency session - the same people who turned up to the previous meeting (despite the first two being busy)...basically - disaster!
In a final effort to try and give No Shop Day (The UK version of Buy Nothing Day) in Lancaster the kick into action it deserved, we set about getting stuff ready as best we could, and hoped we would get some more people on the day! We made more posters, banners, information boards, food...fingers crossed it would turnout alright, I think we all nearly went to the point of giving up on it all!

The event involved about 5 or 6 groups in the initial planning, with about 15 people coming to the first couple of meetings, unfortunately not all of the groups could make it on the day due to weather in the morning, but it was worth getting together if only as an exercise in networking!

We were all up early on the day (I got up at 5am to make/print leaflets) and the others got the stuff into town. (Incidentally, the weather was atrocious, which was a shame). We were all sitting in the local vegy cafe by about 11am with huge piles of stuff, and 3 or 4 more people! By about 12 noon everything was in order (and the sun came out and the sky went blue!), and we set off towards the square. Within about 30 seconds of arriving it seemed everyone was busy getting the day set up. Three wallpaper pasting tables made a stall, the info-board went up, posters went up all round town, banners went up ('No Shop Zone' and 'More of this Sort of Thing!') paints and materials came out and all kinds of things started happening!!!

More people came (about 30-40 I think, over the whole day) Banners fell down and had to be put up again!
We had free food - Two rice dishes, some cakes, some gourguuuuus flapjack! The idea being that people took it if they needed it, and relaxed from their shopping madness a bit.
Subverts (see www.adbusters.org) 'appeared' on nearby shops and banks. Colourful paint and card went out, together with people helping kids make paintings and christmas cards. People played dominoes with kids.
Friendship bracelet workshops went on all day, again, with free materials! Free clothes (providing you came back in half an hour to show you really needed them, and asked yourself if you would need them in a week, a month ect). Soundsystem playing some chilled reggae/dub/roots tunes, drums and clappers joining in to attract some attention to the stall. Lots of leaflets (~700 Xmas gift exemption vouchers, 500 practical leaflets, about 1200 general information leaflets and about 700 'Shopitis' Leaflets) - on only 200 sheets of A4 - which is pretty good going for that amount of leaflets! Plenty of talking to passers by, explaining the leaflets & what the day was about, great reaction - didn't see any negative comments at all! One participant did some crazy muffled rants about 'things' (thiiiings! I neeed thiiiings!) whilst wearing a suit, doctors mask and a big bag on his head - a stunning example of 'shopitis' for any passers by bemused by either him or our shopitis leaflet! Chalking the 'Only when the last tree has been cut down...cannot eat money' on the pavement went down well, lots of people seemed to be reading it. A litter collection went on, putting it in a big pile, with posters showing how much consumer culture wastes. A rather bizarre congo (with drums) through some of the shops, with Mr Shopitis in the lead! Seemed to work well - especially when people walked out of the shop and could see the stall! I don't think I have ever seen an action when there has been so much going on at the same time! We seemed to miss out on the press a bit, but we had a reporter walk past, and decide to do an article on the day, which is great - she was very positive about it and seemed genuinely impressed with the thinking behind it! It started getting chilly about 3pm, but we kept going till about 4:30, when the centre was calming down and nearly all our food and leaflets had gone, we packed all the stuff off and cleaned up the spilt paint, then went back to various places to eat/chill/sleep, after which we went down to a drumming night in town, with a great djembe group, and a really cool samba band! All in all a most excellent day! All who helped on the day deserve a pat on the back, especially the dedicated few who kept it all going in the week and day (and night!) before! We have copies and words for the leaflets if anyone wants them, and I believe there was also video made of the event.

Well done everyone!

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