CONSUMERISM Buy Nothing Day celebration expands to three sites BY IAN DONNIS

In the eight years since the inception of Buy Nothing Day in Rhode Island, the prevailing national mood has shifted from peace and (relative) prosperity to 9/11-inspired anxiety and now to growing disgruntlement with George W. Bush and his administration’s war in Iraq. So it seems fitting that Buy Nothing Day — which strikes a blow against excessive consumerism by distributing hundreds of winter coats to the needy — is expanding this year from one to three sites.

The event, to be held the day after Thanksgiving, Friday, November 25 from 10 am to 2 pm, has long been held on the State House lawn in Providence, within throwing distance of where the Providence Place Mall now stands. This year, Buy Nothing Day will also take place, during the same hours, at the Woodlawn Community Center, 210 West Avenue, Pawtucket, and at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 12 Marlboro Street, Newport.

Green Party stalwart Greg Gerritt, who helps to organize the event, says the expansion to three sites grew from one volunteer’s concept of introducing a satellite event, eventually resulting in the new efforts in Pawtucket and Newport. "I have full confidence they know exactly what to do," Gerritt says, noting how one of the new organizers, the Pawtucket Association of Neighborhoods, has a strong network throughout the Blackstone Valley.

Organizers ask anyone with a spare coat to bring it to one of the three sites on November 25, and anyone who needs a coat is welcome to attend. Some 70 community groups, political organizations, churches, peace and environmental groups, schools, social service providers, and advocates have joined together to promote the effort. (For more info, contact Gerritt at 401.331.0529 or gerritt@mindspring.com, or Phil Edmonds at 401.273.4650 or philwhistle@juno.com.)

Buy Nothing Day was conceived by Adbusters, "a group devoted to exposing how advertising is promoting a culture and lifestyle that are unhealthy for our communities and our planet," notes a flyer for the event. "Adbusters came up with the idea that on the biggest shopping day of the year, the day after Thanksgiving, people should protest the consumerism that is eating our communities and overwhelming the life support systems of our planet."

Gerritt says the dissatisfaction with the status quo can be seen in how 160 people turned out on a rainy Wednesday night for a recent conference in Providence on global warming. The war, meanwhile, the response to Hurricane Katrina, and other events have fostered an environment in which, he says, "people are disturbed tremendously. They see a government that isn’t paying a whole lot of attention. They see big business doing business as usual," with huge profits in the oil industry. "I think people are ahead of the government. People are saying the war doesn’t make sense, the oil industry doesn’t make sense . . . People are starting to get the message in a variety of ways. It’s very important to take better care of the planet if we’re going to take better care of our communities."