National Buy Nothing Day is an annual event started in Canada in 1992 to challenge the consumer culture. It is typically observed on the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States, and the last Saturday in November in Canada. The day is intended to promote simple living and refocus attention on community, experience, and giving rather than materialism and consumerism. Many people participate by avoiding all purchases for the day, or by only buying second-hand or necessary items. Some people use the day to protest the commercialization of holidays such as Christmas.There is no official organization behind National Buy Nothing Day, and it is not a holiday in the traditional sense. Rather, it is a day for people to come together and raise awareness about the negative impacts of consumerism and over-consumption.