November 30th is Buy Nothing Day - but you probably won't notice in Ireland, writes Catherine McDonnell

Do you feel ill at the thought of participating in the spending frenzy that now represents Christmas? Year after year, do you waste time and money seeking presents for ungrateful people? If so, you could change your spending habits by participating in Buy Nothing Day. It's simple: all you have to do is - nothing.

This campaign, in which 55 countries take part, was started in 1991 by a Canadian-based organisation called Adbusters. It is celebrated in Europe on November 30th and on November 29th in the US and Canada.

The aim of Buy Nothing Day is to increase public awareness of the consequences of mass consumerism and financial overindulgence, especially in the run-up to Christmas. So instead of spending money, you could spend time thinking about global consumerism and your place within the system. Does genuine consumer-choice exist? What happens to my numerous knick-knacks once I'm tired of them? Am I pressurised by my peers to buy products that I don't want or need, or can ill-afford?

A recent report by Combat Poverty Agency detailed how a girl of 14 left school after enduring a two-year bullying campaign by her schoolmates, which culminated in her being kicked unconscious. The reason given: she didn't wear the "correct" designer clothes.

Adbusters' website claims that Buy Nothing Day last year was celebrated by about one million people around the world. In San Francisco, people dressed up as sheep and went into shopping centres, bleating at shoppers and pleading with them to keep spending. In Cairns, Australia, "consumer zombies" with large barcodes painted on their long, black outfits shuffled through town while Santa, festooned with corporate logos, wielded a whip to keep them consuming.

Ireland also took part. Events included a chain of anti-consumer dancers weaving up and down Dublin's Grafton Street and into Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, only to be thrown out by security.

This year, Galway's One World Centre is planning to host a one-day event involving speakers, swap-shop stalls and street theatre. So far, however, it looks like not much else will be happening in Ireland on November 30th. Why such inaction? Kaethe Burt-O'Dea, who designs sustainable development projects, has been trying to organise events for Ireland's Buy Nothing Day. The task, she says, has been quite difficult, mainly because the relevant organisations do not appear to work in tandem: "This can make it hard for people to find consumer or environmental information upon which to act".

She believes that while Irish people do show some concern, on the whole they are "only just beginning to think about consumer over-indulgence". She sees the success of Buy Nothing Day in other countries as a "wake-up call" for Irish organisations - governmental and non-governmental - to work together to inform the public here. Then, Burt-O'Dea believes, people would be better able to withstand the pressure to spend.

So if the spending figures are down this Christmas, it will probably not be thanks to the Buy Nothing campaign, but to that champion of the consumer society: Charlie McCreevy.

To send a Buy Nothing Day e-card, go to www.buynothingday.co.uk More information at:

www.adbusters.org