From Santa Cruz, CA

 The Alarm!Newswire <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

From: The Alarm!Newswire <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [Dryerase] The Alarm!--Alternatives to shopping
Date: Thu, 14 Nov 2002 20:31:07 -0800

Join others, don’t shop, feel better

Here are some things you can do that’ll keep you out of stores on
November 29, Buy Nothing Day:

• Write letters to everyone you’ve been neglecting.

• Sew sock monkeys out of those sad loner socks whose partners have
been lost in the black hole of laundry. All you need are two socks,
some buttons, a needle and thread.

• Go for a walk and gather neat looking seed pods, dried leaves, pine
cones, acorns, spark plugs, street sweeper blades, buttons, messed up
coins and anything rusty. Clean out a nice looking quart jar. Arrange
the items in the jar leaving room for the recipient to add their own
findings. Hide a note inside (if you want to be super-sneaky). Put a
lid on it. INSTA-PRESENT!

• Find one of those tin boxes from those pesky AOL CDs (you can also
use old Altoids canisters, etc). Decoupage the outside with cool images
from all those magazines you’ve got laying around. Coat with clear nail
polish for a glossy finish. On the inside, paste photos. Voila! A
picture frame.

• November 16 is free appliance pick-up day all around the city. Go
scavenging for an old TV. In preparation find a fish tank/bowl (try
thrift stores), a light socket, a pump, rocks, a plastic castle and
some fish (living). Then on Buy Nothing Day, gut the TV, put the fish
tank inside and light it from behind. (P.S. maybe some of the insides
of the TV would look good in a glass quart jar.)

• Go to the beach (make sure it’s not a state beach). Look for polished
stones, sea glass and shells. Dig some bottles out of your recycling
bin. Remove the labels and clean them. Put your treasures inside.

• Organize a marching band or theater troupe. Dress up. Get creative.
Make flyers about Buy Nothing Day and bring them to shopping areas to
pass out. Play music. Have fun.

• Visit old people in nursing homes. Bring gifts you’ve made (like sock
monkeys and decorative jars).

• Volunteer at a soup kitchen. Just because it’s the day after
Thanksgiving doesn’t mean people aren’t hungry.

• Make a care package for someone you miss.

• Go through your closets and figure out all the stuff you can donate
to a local shelter, the Drop-In Center or the Walnut Avenue Women’s
Center.

• Go to the public library before Thanksgiving (they are closed on
Thanksgiving and the day after) and check out videos or DVDs for free.
Host a movie day.—H.J. and B.W.

Check out adbusters.org for stickers etc.