For many years, we have celebrated Buy Nothing Day. Founded in Canada in 1992, the Buy Nothing Movement arose in protest of mass consumerism and the throw-away culture that accompanies it. The movement has grown and evolved over the past decades to include more than 65 nations. The biggest shopping day of the year—the day after Thanksgiving, or Black Friday—has become the movement’s international day of protest: Buy Nothing Day. Here at Mountain Rose Herbs, we applaud this effort and wholly support Buy Nothing Day! Overconsumption eats up natural resources and puts our planet in peril. As the CEO and owner of Mountain Rose Herbs, I encourage you NOT to shop with us on Friday, November 24, 2023. The fact that we, as a society, have created a national holiday of shopping suggests that our priorities need realignment. Buy Nothing Day is our act of pushback.
There are multiple problems with Black Friday promotions. Not only does this annual shopping frenzy promote overconsumption, it also tends to promote the buying of cheap goods made by workers who are not being adequately paid. At Mountain Rose Herbs, we have spent more than three decades working against this kind of inequity, dedicating ourselves to Fair for Life fair trade practices that provide our partner-farmers with living wages and access to education and health options. We also believe in quality over quantity, so we always opt to offer only as much of a high quality product as we can ethically and sustainably source, than to turn a profit on an ingredient that doesn't meet our standards for human and environmental health. Sometimes that means we go out of stock on an herb, and while this is frustrating for our customers and can impact our bottom line, we always prioritize planet over profit.
As a society, we are at a crossroads. The fragility of our environment has only gotten worse in recent years. We cannot continue to fill our oceans, landfills, and incinerators with single-use, throwaway items. We cannot continue to be complacent about our culture of consumerism. It's time to think about how much we really need in order to be happy, and to be more mindful of how and when we consume resources.
In honor of Buy Nothing Day, our website will be blacked out. We hope you will join us in celebrating memorable experiences, sharing acts of kindness, and completing projects that feed our hearts and souls. Here are 10 ways to celebrate the tradition of Buy Nothing Day!
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