CONSUMERISM Taking a post-turkey stand against gluttony BY IAN DONNiS

Those with a sober view of reality don’t need much prodding to appreciate the widening gap between haves and have-nots. But the reelection of George W. Bush and the ongoing war in Iraq lend a particularly somber backdrop for the feast of plenty celebrated by most Americans as Thanksgiving. The eighth annual Buy Nothing Day coat exchange, taking place on Friday, November 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., on the State House lawn in Providence, seems a good place to mull it all while helping the needy at the same time.

Buy Nothing Day — held on the day after Thanksgiving as an anti-consumerist celebration — remains centered on the traditional exchange of hundreds and hundreds of winter coats. "The event in itself is not doing anything different this year," says Greg Gerritt of the Green Party, one of the organizers. "It just grows every year and the response has been incredibly great, so we’re looking at a big event. Personally, I’m kind of bummed out about the president being reelected. This is a divided country, divided more and more between rich and poor. There are lots of people who don’t have homes, warm clothes, ways to stay warm in the winter." At the same time, many Rhode Islander are responding generously to the need. "I don’t know if you can divide that politically," Gerritt says, "[although] lots of people are aware of the need and looking for ways to participate."

Dozens of community groups and churches are cosponsoring this year’s event, ranging from AIDS Care Ocean State to YouthBuild Providence. Gerritt says many parents have expressed an interest in participating in Buy Nothing Day with their children, and that students from the Sophia Academy in Providence will be taking part. (In the event of rain, the event will move to St. Patrick’s Parish, 244 Smith St.)

The Buy Nothing Day concept has manifested in various cities internationally after being conceived by the anti-consumerist magazine Adbusters. Coats left over at the end of the day will be distributed through social agencies around the state. For info, contact Gerritt at (401) 331-0529, or by writing gerritt@mindspring.com, or Phil Edmonds at (401) 273-4650, or by writing pppphilwistle@juno.com.

With the impact of global warming becoming increasingly evident, it’s not inconceivable that the focus of Buy Nothing Day might have to change one day in places like Providence. "You might not need as heavy a winter coat, but the damage to the planet is immense, and it’s part of this disregarding of keeping ecological systems healthy," Gerritt says. "Between the war, and global warming, and ever-increasing homelessnes in Rhode Island, there’s enough for people to remember."