Ditch Black Friday and Cyber Monday for #GivingTuesday

I have an interesting thought experiment for you…

Imagine a world in which Time Square is plastered with the logos of nonprofit organizations as opposed to corporate brands. Where the ads between your favorite programs promote causes rather than products. Where the holiday season is a time to give to charities instead of buying the latest toys and gadgets.

The Problem with Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Black Friday and its cousin, Cyber Monday, are both cut from the same cloth. They were born to serve a specific purpose — to sell more stuff; to generate more revenue; to turn the wheel of capitalism a little faster.

Before we even begin to walk, we learn that this time of year is all about stuff, glorious stuff. Toys and games gifted to us as children give rise to electronics and jewelry as adults.

But how did the season of giving and goodwill turn into the season of buying and materialism?

Season of Giving → Season of Buying

It hasn’t always been this way.

Less than two centuries ago, the stuff we bought was produced locally, from natural materials. Things were repaired and reused for as long as possible. Until… the Industrial Revolution. Then it became easier and cheaper to produce goods. Thus, our consumer-driven economy of today.

Victor Lebow, an economist in the 1950’s, may have said it best:

Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction and our ego satisfaction in consumption.

We’re taught to be good little consumers from a very young age. Commercials during our favorite Saturday morning cartoons convinced us to want things. And as we grew older, we were encouraged to want bigger and more expensive things. Things that would make us feel trendier, sexier… happier.

These are things we think we need. We think they’ll make us happy. But once we get them, the happiness is short-lived before some new need takes its place that can only be filled with more stuff.

The Hidden Price of Our Consumer Culture

We seek joy through the acquisition of stuff. Yet, we can never have enough stuff to make us truly happy. It’s a deliberately vicious cycle designed by manufacturers and moguls to keep us buying. But what’s the harm in that, right?

Unfortunately, the consumption of all of this stuff creates an insane amount of waste and CO2 — the very gas that’s choking our planet.

At the risk of being a buzzkill, really think about it for a moment…

• All this stuff we buy takes raw materials — most often plastics and other refined materials that won’t biodegrade for millennia.
• Producing and distributing this stuff requires energy — vast amounts of energy with a sizable environmental impact.
• Then there’s all the packaging waste — so much of which can never truly be recycled.
• In 5 or 10 years, all this coveted stuff will have aged. It breaks, becomes obsolete or goes out of style. Then we do what we always do — replace it or toss it in the trash without a second thought.
• So the overwhelming majority of the stuff we’re so hungry for today will end its short life cycle in a landfill or poisoning the ocean.
• Now… multiply that by BILLIONS of consumers. That’s the root of our climate crisis.

Today, as our planet continues to revolt in response to our wasteful lifestyles, we’re starting to see the hidden cost of our consumer culture. And sadly, our children will pay the price for generations to come.

It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way

There are many small steps we’re taking to curb climate change:

• switching from plastic materials
• reducing our consumption of meat
• driving electric vehicles

And so on. But that’s a drop in the bucket if we can’t get to the root of this problem.

To make a significant difference, we need to break our addiction to consumerism. Our own everyday behavior is at the heart of this crisis. After all, manufacturers wouldn’t make so much stuff if we didn’t rush to buy it.

Breaking our consumer habits won’t be easy. We’ve been conditioned to consume since our earliest memories. Every week, we’re exposed to thousands of ads to get us to consume more stuff.

So, how can we begin to chip away at this destructive mindset?

1. Become Aware of Your Consumption

You can’t transcend a lifetime of conditioning unless you’re hyper-aware of it. Keep it at the forefront of your mind. Set a weekly alarm on your phone to remember your commitment to curb your consumption. And if you still forget, make it a daily alarm.

Each time you’re faced with the decision to buy something, really consider whether you absolutely need it. If it’s a replacement item, see if you can’t repair or continue to use the item you have now.

And remember — the latest styles and trends are nothing more than a social construct invented by retailers to sell you more product. You don’t have to fall for it.

2. Buy Lasting Happiness Instead

Time and again, psychological studies have shown that real, lasting happiness doesn’t come from material possessions. The happiness stuff brings is short-lived. So, put more of your money toward experiences, not stuff.

See more movies and shows. Eat at more restaurants. Visit more museums and exhibits. Travel more. These things bring happiness not once, not twice, but thrice:

1. the joy of anticipating the experience
2. the joy of the experience itself
3. the joy of the memory of the experience — arguably a lifetime of joy

Share these experiences with good company to multiply your joy even more.

3. Adopt and Spread the Mantle of Giving

The happiness of giving to a charitable cause is another lasting joy. People feel good knowing they’re helping a cause that’s meaningful to them. This is part of the case you make every day to your donors.

Imagine how much better the world would be if everyone spent more money on charitable causes rather than all this stuff we really don’t need. Millions more dollars spent helping organizations like yours to fulfill noble missions instead of lining the pockets of corporate bigwigs.

This societal reallocation of money would go a long way toward reducing our collective carbon footprint while at the same time improving the lives of so many individuals. It’s win-win!

#GivingTuesday Every Day of the Year

Let’s get back to our thought experiment…

Imagine a world where nonprofit brands are every bit as prolific as corporate brands. A world where we make gifts to charities in each other’s honor for holidays, birthdays, weddings and other special occasions.

That might seem strange. It’s so at odds with the world we live in today. But it doesn’t have to be…

In fact, every day could be like one successful #GivingTuesday after another. We could regularly foster our inner happiness through selfless giving. We could fuel the causes we hold so dear with a near-endless supply of resources. So many of our greatest problems could be tackled — including the climate change that threatens us all.

In such a world, sharing your favorite causes would be encouraged. Friends and family would know what nonprofits you hold most dear, and they’d be able to easily make gifts to those organizations in your honor.

Supporting the Shift to Altruism

As a nonprofit, you could support this idea too. Make it super-easy for people to make a gift on behalf of someone else. Then follow up with both individuals to let them know how the contribution helped.

Now you’ve got a new potential donor on your list. If you do a good job cultivating this gift recipient, they could become a longtime donor as well.

A beautiful side effect of this shift toward altruistic spending is the environmental impact would be a tiny fraction compared to the impact of making, distributing and consuming more stuff.

More stuff we really don’t need.

More stuff that will end up as trash in the blink of an eye.

Which leads us to…

Less waste, and a better world.

Seems like a no-brainer to me.

Making a Better World Actually Happen

Movements happen overtime. Mindsets change only when new ways of thinking catch on and spread. We’re social creatures. We feed off of and influence each other. If enough of the herd changes course, others tend to follow.

So I urge you — be the cattle at the head of the herd. Become the early-adopters of a mindset of altruism instead of consumption. Actively discuss the change in your thinking on social media. Gently tug others in this direction, too. We have so much to gain as a society.

A rising tide lifts all boats. If this mentality takes hold, it will lift your nonprofit (and countless others) to incredible new heights. And the world of tomorrow will gain something that’s been seriously lacking as of late — HOPE.

Are you courageous enough to help start the trend? Share this post far and wide, and add your thoughts to the comments below.