So this is the period of the year that the Christmas decorations start going up…Everyone is on their last Halloween candy and we are between Thanksgivings. In between you ask? Well Canadian’s harvest festival was held a couple of weeks ago and our friends to the South celebrate on the fourth Thursday of November. If you’ve never had the chance to celebrate American Thanksgiving it is a festival of food family and football. A cornucopia of excess often, because the following day is Black Friday. Although there are a few theories on what the day is labelled “black” but one of the most agreed upon, is the day stores see profit, or are in the black.

There are many sad stories of consumer consumption in the US. People getting trampled, or fighting over the last article, stores forcing their staff in to open all night and so on. This has caused some push-back and citizens are creating new movements to counter this marketing ploy. There is also a parallel movement called Buy Nothing Day, “an international day of protest against such consumerism” It began in Canada in 1992 and is accompanied by zombie walks (to mimic the frenzy of shoppers) cutting up credit cards and so on. Our own Eco-Quartier NDG team will be at the Vendôme and Villa Maria Métros on that very day to promote the idea of generating less waste and becoming mindful of consuming. (See page for the article).

Other ‘days’ that have been created are: Cyber Monday, where deals are offered online, to promote e-commerce and Small Business Saturday, whereby local businesses are promoted and last but not least… Giving Tuesday.

Giving Tuesday is also called “National Giving Day”. Their tag line is “We have two days that are good for the economy (Saturday and Monday). Now we have a day that is good for the community too.” Started in US in 2012, this day of giving kicks off the holiday season. By making a donation to your favourite charity or volunteering, you help the charities that you feel are making a difference for causes that are dear to you.

In the weeks leading up to the Giving Tuesday, we will be sharing our announcements, activities and much more information. Join the conversation at #givingtuesdayca. Check out our Facebook page or Twitter.

And of course to learn more about what Prévention CDN-NDG is doing on Giving Tuesday AND/OR make a donation, you can go HERE.

We look forward to being involved in this important endeavour!

P.S. When I was doing my research, I googled to see what the other day themes were but instead got 33 million results on deals for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Terri