Media Reports

Occupy This: The Crusade Against Holiday Shopping, Daily Finance, December 15, 2011 Barbara Thau interviews several Winnipeg, Manitoba residents about how they have practiced a Buy Nothing Christmas in the past and plan to again this year. Read more here.

How to Have a Slow Holiday (or a Buy Nothing Chrismas), The Huffington Post, December 9, 2011 Kirsten Dirksen gives a few reasons why a Buy Nothing Christmas is better than a shop 'til you drop Christmas. And a video too! Read more here.

Why Christians should resist Black Friday, The Washington Post, November 24, 2011
Aiden Enns, co-founder of BuyNothingChristmas.org, writes "To me, Black Friday is essentially our version of a religious pilgrimage. We worship in the mega stores, make schedules around holiday deals, display allegiance to brands and low prices, offer tithes to the cashiers. Masses of people swarm the stores with hype and fervor. But where’s the meaning? The deep meaning? See more here.

Adbusters, Buy Nothing Day and Occupy Wall Street, The Independent, November 20, 2011
Featuring comments from Kalle Lasn, editor at Adbusters magazine, "We are going to try and take back our Christmas season from the commercial forces that have hijacked it," he says. For more on the relationship between Adbusters and Buy Nothing Christmas, see here. And while you're at it, check out Buy Nothing Day.

People To Change Spending Habits This Christmas, Vancouver News1130, November 16, 2011
This Christmas Canadians plan to spend almost $1400, but it is not all going towards material things. Trips and entertainment have become more important to people this year. Featuring comments from Buy Nothing Christmas co-founder Aiden Enns. Read more here.

CNN features websites: Buy nothing for holidays, CNN.com, December 10, 2010
Several online movements have inspired thousands of people to attempt to spend little or no cash on holiday presents. "The holiday season is about sharing time with loved ones, not going into debt," said Cat Ellis, a Facebook "Buy Nothing Christmas" follower.
"It is entirely unnecessary to spend money in order to show others that you care."
Aiden Enns co-founded buynothingchristmas.org and said during the holidays, his site attracts up to 7,000 hits a day from people wanting to learn more about the movement. Read more here.

Swiss urged to leave wallets at home, Swissinfo.ch, November 27, 2010
Buy Nothing Christmas co-founder Aiden Enns is interviewed by Swissinfo.ch on the topic of Buy Nothing Day and Buy Nothing Christmas. "It’s absurd to shop at toxic levels in the name of the child that was born to bring peace to the world."  Read more here.

Merry Consumerism, Relevant Magazine, December 14, 2009
Margo Starbuck says you don't have to be a Scrooge to do the holidays differently.
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, many of us relax, spend time with family, share anecdotes of Christmases past with a smile, and quietly reflect on what this time of year is meant for—loving each other and remembering the joy of our Savior’s birth. Well ... maybe not. Read more here.

Buy Nothing Season in Halifax, The Coast, December 3, 2009
Richard Woodbury writes: Nada. Zilch. Zippo. Here’s another option for your holidays: avoid the gifting altogether. If all of the gift-giving at Christmastime gets to be too much, you might want to consider having a Buy Nothing Christmas. See link here.

Making Christmas gifts rewarding experience Evolution 107.9 FM November 26, 2009
Devon Taylor posts a short audio piece on Buy Nothing Christmas.

Evolution 107.9 FM with Devon Taylor from BCIT Broadcast Journalism November 19, 2009
Devon speaks with Anna Weir of Buy Nothing Christmas, a movement looking to de-commercialize the holiday by promoting low cost home spun gifts. Anna also shares some tips on how to buy gifts on a tight budget. (20 min. audio) link here.

St. Louis Post Dispatch Advent Conspiracy: Entering the Story November 12, 2009
I look back on that first Christmas as a demented consumerist version of “The Gift of the Magi”.  That was 1988, and we’ve been trying to figure out how to properly celebrate Christmas ever since.

GodTalk radio December 18, 2007
The two hosts roast Aiden Enns and Buy Nothing Christmas: his heart's two sizes too small. They're joking, of course, and they do care about discovering new meaning this Christmas. CJOB Radio Winnipeg, podcast.

Toronto radio, 680 News December 07, 2007
Campaign revives the true meaning of Christmas. Every year shoppers head to packed malls in droves, scrambling to buy a mountain of gifts for everyone on their list and often maxing out their credit cards in the process.

Kansas City Star Where’s Santa when I need him? December 5, 2007
My dad has announced he’s canceling Christmas. The stocking snuffer revoked my favorite day without consulting my mom or sister or me. He argues he’s “simplifying” it. I know the truth. And the truth is, I should have seen this coming.

New York Times A Fresh Advertising Pitch: Buy Nothing November 22, 2007
A Buy Nothing Day report: As millions of Americans brace for the jammed parking lots and mobbed closeout racks that come with the holiday shopping season, a small but determined network of antishopping activists is girded for action as well.

Winnipeg Free Press, Carolers decry holiday shopping mania, December 17, 2006
Carolers singing traditional holiday carols with a satirical twist to the lyrics urged Winnipeggers to stop shopping and find the true meaning of Christmas at a few local stores on Saturday.

Winnipeg Sun, Shoppers urged to shop less, December 17, 2006
Shoppers in the Polo Park area were greeted with some unusual Christmas carols yesterday. Members of the Buy Nothing Christmas campaign sang traditional carols with new anti-consumerism lyrics.

Winnipeg Free Press, Stressed? Hop on the Burnout Bus, December 16, 2006
SICK of shopping? Feeling mauled at the mall? Consumed by consumerism? Then you might want to board the "Burnout Bus."

Grand Haven Tribune, The best Christmas gift: not shopping, December 14, 2006
My wife and I recently watched the DVD "Christmas With the Cranks," a comedy based on the John Grisham novel "Skipping Christmas." It was hilarious and thought provoking — as good comedy should be.

Winnipeg Free Press, A new way of giving at Christmas, November 26, 2006
Food to feed a family of five, two hens and a rooster, and a fruit tree in Zambia. It's not exactly The Twelve Days of Christmas, but some Manitobans are singing a different.

Port Huron Times Herald, Retailers see green; buyers see bargains, November 25, 2006
They call it Black Friday, but clear skies and bargains made the day after Thanksgiving sunny for area shoppers. Tiny word of dissent mentioned at bottom of story.

Vancouver Courier Mooove over Santa, Wednesday, December 22, 2004
When Nicholas Klassen returned to Canada several years ago after living in Africa, he was stunned by the riches stacked on the cupboards and in the aisles at a local grocery store.... "When I travelled to Africa I really understood the gap between the rich and poor," he says. "I decided I have enough stuff. I mean if I need a jacket I'll buy it, but how many jackets do I need?"

CBC.ca 'Buy Nothing' campaign aims for different style of giving. Tuesday, December 21, 2004
The courage it took Mary to give birth to Jesus is similar to the plight of sweatshop workers making cheap goods for Western markets, according to an annual campaign designed to reduce Christmas consumerism.

Rabble.ca Think Outside The Big Box, Thursday, December 16, 2004
There's nothing Scrooge about it; we were the happiest people in the mall.

Southern Oregon News Buy Nothing Christmas, Back to Basics, December 13, 2004
Tis the season - to shop til you drop! Except for one Medford couple. "Christmas has gotten so far out of hand," explained Payton Windslow, 29.

National Post Buy Nothing group carols in malls - and gets ejected, December 11, 2004
This is a unique style of Christmas caroling that shoppers seem to enjoy -- but most merchants do not.

Kitchener-Waterloo Record Enough buying, teens say, Friday November 26, 2004
Spirit of Christmas weighed down by 'mindless over-consumption'

Durham Herald Sun Buy nothing for Christmas and give a gift to Mother Earth, November 20, 2004
Includes recycling tips

GodTalk radio - Buy Nothing Christmas and A Christmas Karl musical (October 24, 2004 #251)
Interview with Aiden Enns: part 1 (2.0 MB mp3), part 2 (1.5 MB mp3), part 3 (1.2 MB mp3)

Faith Today Uncluttering Christmas, November/December 2004
Includes recent stats on shopping; sidebar on alternative gifts

Winnipeg Free Press Activist sings praises of buy-nothing crusade, October 28, 2004
If you want to reach lots of people in Winnipeg, you either have to give away gas or put on a musical.

The Vancouver Sun A 'Buy Nothing Christmas' December 20, 2003
A mini-movement in North America urges spiritual people to return to their roots instead of celebrating commercialism

University of Manitoba Christmas Too Commercial? December 19, 2003

The Humanist Buy Nothing, Improve Everything

The Capital Times Shopping ethically: Bucking the holiday commercialization trend, December 9, 2003
Sidebar: 10 ways to spend little or nothing at all

The Globe and Mail I'm Dreaming of a Giftless Christmas, December 6, 2003
Sick of stuff? Try dropping the presents and giving money to a needy cause instead, writes Carol Toller. And cross your fingers that family members will still speak to you.

The Guardian In the Cheap Midwinter, December 1, 2003
More of a Scrooge than a Santa? Determined to hold on to your money this year no matter what? Kathleen Hennessy - and a team of unscrupulous penny pinchers - offer their tips for negotiating the festive round of parties and presents without putting your hand in your pocket

Western Catholic Reporter Buy Nothing (for) Christmas: Give of yourself instead of giving to corporate coffers
The annual shopping frenzy has begun. But before we deck the halls with boughs of commercial Christmas clutter, Buy Nothing Christmas has another idea.