Waste not, want not!

Increasing numbers of companies are targeting teenage shoppers, hoping to encourage them to buy their products. They package items in attractive, trendy bags and boxes which appeal to teenage tastes. They advertise the latest fashions and must-have gadgets on the television, at pop concerts and at sports events. As a result, British teenagers are spending more money than ever before.
This may be good for the economy, but is it bad for the environment? Companies manufacture millions of ‘luxury’ items for us to purchase every year. A few years later, many of these items will end up in rubbish dumps. Many teenagers do not recycle their used clothes and gadgets – they just get rid of them. ‘They buy something, they use it, then they throw it away,’ says market researcher James Conway. ‘Only “new” stuff is fashionable and that’s the problem’.

BUY NOTHING DAY
WHAT IS IT?
On Buy Nothing Day, people protest about living in a ‘shopaholic’ society. They do not spend any money all day!
HOW DID IT START?
Buy Nothing Day was invented by a Canadian, Ted Dave, in 1992. Ted, who had been employed by advertising agencies for many years, felt that people were being encouraged to buy lots of things they didn’t need. He decided to do something about it! Since 1992, thousands of Buy Nothing Days have been organized all over the world.
WHEN IS IT?
Buy Nothing Day is held in the last weekend of November. This year it will be celebrated by millions of people. At the moment, ‘Buy Nothing’ campaigns are being planned in more than 60 different countries!