nothing-day-fun-activities-games-reading

1. CULTURE BREAK: BUY NOTHING DAY
Test your reading skills:
On November 26th, thousands of activists and concerned citizens in 65 countries will take a 24-
hour consumer detox as part of the annual Buy Nothing Day, a global phenomenon that originated in
Vancouver, Canada. From joining marches through malls to organizing credit cardcut-ups, Buy Nothing
Day activists aim to challenge themselves, their families and their friends to switch off from shopping for
one day.
The event is celebrated as a family holiday, as a non-commercial street party, or even as a public
protest. Anyone can take part provided they spend a day without spending. Reasons for participating in
Buy Nothing Day are varied. Some people want to escape from the marketing mind games. Others use it
to complain about the environmental consequences of over-consumption. Two recent disaster warnings
outline the sudden urgency of our dilemma. In October, a global warning report predicted that climate
change will lead to the most massive market failure the world has ever seen. Soon after, a study published
in the journal Science forecast the total collapse of global fisheries within 40 years.
Kalle Lasn, co-founder of Adbusters Media Foundation which was responsible for turning Buy
Nothing Day into an international annual event, said, “ We must protect our environment from an
ecological collapse. Driving hybrid cars and limiting industrial emissions are just band-aid solutions if we
don’t address the core problem. If we don’t consume less, the consequences will be disastrous for or
environment. This is the message of Buy Nothing Day.”
Activity 1:
Choose the best answer to complete these sentences.
1. On Buy Nothing Day, activists
¨ use only credit-cards when doing their shopping.
¨ do all their shopping in Vancouver.
¨ have to keep away from shopping.
2. A lot of people participate in this event because
¨ there are a lot of games.
¨ they are conscious of the risks of over-
consumption.
¨ the articles are sold at a reduced price.
3. The message conveyed by Buy Nothing Day celebration is:
¨ over-consumption leads to the destruction of our environment.
¨ there are no solutions to the problem of overconsumption.
¨ over-consumption is the solution to environment problems.
Activity 2:
Answer these questions according to the text:
1. How do activists express their refusal to buy?
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2. List two reasons why people participate in Buy Nothing Day.
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3. What does Kalle suggest as a solution to the deterioration of the environment?
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2. Activity 4:
Match words in column A with their definitions in column B.
A B
a) detox (detoxication)
b) band-aid
c) challenge
d) core
1. suggest that somebody should do something especially when you think they
might be unwilling to do it.
2. the heart or the inner part of anything
3. treatment given to people to help them stop doing something.
4. a thing used as a temporary solution.
Activity 5:
What or who do the underlined words refer to?
... challenge themselves F ...........................................................
... provided they spend F ...........................................................
... Others use it F ...........................................................
... our dilemma F ...........................................................
Test your ability to describe and give a meaning to a picture: from http://www.adbusters.org/
November 26th 2011
Give your point of view & share
your opinion with other
students:
What are the main principles of Buy
Nothing Day?
Is that day a good idea?
THE MORE YOU CONSUME, THE LESS YOU LIVE…
JOIN THE MOVEMENT :
BUY NOTHING DAY UK 2011
is on November 26th
SHOP LESS, LIVE MORE!

3. Video work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y0UJryM_8Q&feature=related
The introduction
1) Name six brands and six products/items you saw in the opening scenes:
Brands Products / Items
Part one: the cartoon
1) Why is the little boy angry?.
2) What does he dream of?
3) Give a reason / an explanation to the knife we can see in the second bubble.
4) “20% of world’s population consumes 80% of its resources”. According to you, which
countries represent 20% of the world’s consumption?
Part two: Spending money on unnecessary stuff…
1) Where is the boy? What can we see around him?
2) How does he feel? What does he do to calm himself?
3) What happens then? What are his reactions?
4) In your opinion, what does the white flag mean?
Part three: Meanwhile on the other side of the world…
1) Sum up what you saw in this part:
2) Which side of the world does it refer to?
Part four: We can live without consuming
1) Where are the children and what are they doing?
2) How do they look?
3) Why is spending time with family and friends priceless?
4) Sum up the message conveyed by this Buy Nothing Day video:
5) Find another slogan to end the video:…………………………………………………………………