I stood in line at a popular Canadian coffee-doughnuts chain with change in my hand. It had been a long day, and I couldn't wait to sit down with a warm relaxing coffee and try my hand at this Buy Nothing Day article.

As I stood in line, humming and jingling my change to the beat of the music pumping through my iPod, a thought started flying around my head. I swatted at it, tried to push it off to one side, but it wouldn't leave me alone. It told me, look. Look at the hypocrisy staring you in the face. And suddenly it hit me like a brick wall.

There I was, standing in line to buy something that I didn't need just so I could get into the groove to write a Buy Nothing Day article. I knew the coffee wasn't fair trade and was brought to me by exploiting farmers in developing countries, but I wanted it. Come on! It was just one time, and such a small price to pay for alertness and good writing.

And then I realized what I was doing was exactly the type of consumer mindset Buy Nothing Day fights against.

What is Buy Nothing Day, anyway? In the United States, Buy Nothing Day always falls on the day after Thanksgiving. This day is also infamously called "Black Friday", due to the mad frenzy of consumer spending as people rush to stores to get their start on Christmas Shopping. Black Friday often earns retailers more profits than any other day of the year. For all you Canadians, think Boxing Day – times ten. This year, an employee was trampled to death as people waiting in line outside a Wal-Mart in New York pushed the doors open before the official store opening.

Wait, let that sink in. An employee was trampled to death. Not by an angry mob, not by a herd of wild horses, but by consumers. You. Me. The average person just wanting to find that "perfect" gift. Is this what we have become? Mindless consumers, driven to such frenzy over buying things that we could unknowingly kill another human being?

This is what Buy Nothing Day protests against. It protests the unbridled consumerism of our society. It protests the mindset of always wanting more and more, and the belief that we need to buy to become happy. Who needs family and friends and community when you can just step into the nearest shopping mall? Buy Nothing Day protests the fact that we are here in North America, with access to anything and everything we desire, often at the expense of people in developing nations. Who cares where it comes from or who it was made by? It's the best deal in the store!

The action to take on Buy Nothing Day is simple: buy nothing, leave your wallet at home, and do not spend any money. Obviously Buy Nothing Day has already come and gone (it was November 28), but that doesn't mean i's no longer important to consume less. Unlimited consumption is an illusion. We live on one planet, with a limited supply of resources. Once the trees are gone, once the rivers are polluted, we won't have another Earth conveniently ready for us so we can keep producing our cars and clothes and fast food. So why does it seem okay to buy more and more while the Earth has less and less?

Try having your own Buy Nothing Day, any day of the year. For 24 hours, step out of our consumerist society and see how it feels.

When I stared at the change in my hand waiting in line to get my coffee, I realized that I couldn't justify my desire, knowing that it came with the exploitation of other people. I couldn't buy something just for the sake of buying it, and then sit down and tell people to buy smart, buy less, or buy nothing at all.

So when it's your turn to stand in line for the latest product, be it clothes or coffee, ask yourself: How did this item get to me? Who was impacted in its production? And most important of all, do I really need it? Then, be honest to yourself. I found out that it takes hardly any effort to put your money back into your pocket, and walk away.