The first Buy Nothing Day was organized in Vancouver in September 1992, designed artist Ted Dave, as a day for society to examine the issue of over-consumption. Participants took on the challenge of spending a day without spending, to do anything but shop; to enjoy the free things in life. The idea was to stimulate people to reflect on the fact that the richest 20% of the human population consume 88% of the earth’s resources, and that it’s people in the poorest countries, those least responsible for unwise consumption, who bear the brunt of the environmental damage: degradation of land, deforestation, pollution of rivers and seas and who are most vulnerable to climatic changes. Buy Nothing Day gained widespread popularity following its promotion by the alternative magazine Adbusters and since then annual participation in the form of creative autonomous actions and has spread to 65 countries.