Indymedia York

International Buy Nothing Day came to York today. As only four people turned up our plans had to be scaled back a bit, so we didn't quite manage to overthrow the corrupt capitalist system (mebbe next year, eh?!).

Instead, we set up a free fair-trade coffee stall outside Starbucks on Coney Street, and made life a little bit easier for their corporate accountants.

In an hour and a half, over 150 cups of tea and coffee were dished out to slightly bemused passers by. Some wanted to know what the catch was, some asked if we were connected with the church ("definitely not!" was the resounding reply), and one person even tried to give us a donation ("definitely not!" was the resounding reply!).

A fair few people stopped and talked at length, and some promised not to buy anything for the rest of the day.

A gang of enthusiastic teenage girls kindly held our 'Buy Nothing Day' banner and advertised our wares for 45 minutes.

Two friendly coppers walked past, but unfortunately couldn't be tempted to free drinks, and just as we were winding up, someone from the council came along to tell us 'the rules' about stalls in town. He told us that we needed permission to hold a stall, and gave us a form to be completed for next time. He was very pleasant about it and was happy for us to carry on for another 15 minutes (we'd run out of everything by then anyway, so we agreed), but we couldn’t persuade him to take a free coffee. In all the excitement, the form appears to have been lost, so it looks like our next event will have to be 'unauthorised' as well. . . . . .

After the coffee stall had been wound-up, a couple of activists had some “fun” on the escalators in Marks and Spencers - until they were asked to leave by security.

So, that's it for this year. We didn't change the world, or stop much shopping, but we diverted a small amount of cash from Starbucks' coffers, had a lot of fun giving stuff away and put smiles on peoples’ faces!

Murray Booknose & Jorge Nonbuyit