[uberculture] Forward Widely! Uberculture Needs Your Help!

[reclaim your culture]

Forward Widely! Uberculture Needs Your Help! 

Dear friends, lovers, and troublemakers: 

überculture is a student group at Concordia working to challenge the commercialization of campus space/campus life and to promote independent art, media, and culture ( you may remember us as the folks having tea in the Hall lobby last week ). For our next fun stunt, we need your help! 

We're organizing a Clothing (and other stuff) Swap to follow "Buy Nothing Day." Buy Nothing Day is a yearly holiday celebrated in over 65 countries where people are encouraged to cut consumerism out of their lives for just twenty-four hours. That's right, no shopping. At all! So instead of sitting around feeling about about how much capitalism sucks, we wanted to offer a fun, engaging alternative, and we're calling it the Really Really Free Market. 

>From 11am to 5pm on Monday, November 30th , überculture will be in the 7th floor lounge with all kinds of free stuff for you to take and share. Everything at the Swap will be brought by students and community members, and will be completely free for the taking. Anything left over will be donated to a charitable organization. 

Why are you doing this? 

1) It's sustainable! The less you buy and the more you recycle and reuse, the better off the planet is. Sharing our old stuff is way better for the environment than buying new. 
2) It's stigma-free! We recognize the unfortunate negative associations with accessing food banks or second-hand clothing stores, particularly for students. While we need to combat these ideas on their own terms, it's also important to create spaces where this stigma doesn't exist: a "Free Market" is a space for mutual sharing, instead of one-way, charity giving. 
3) It's a great way to build community! Talking to strangers and peers in a non-commercial setting is getting harder and harder. It seems like buying is a prerequisite for participating, and we think that's silly. Checking out cool stuff is a great way to make new friends! Come try it! 

We'll also be doing some fun guerilla theatre, writing an Open-Source Manifesto, and cutting up credit cards all day long. 


Rad Idea, How can I help? 

ONE: If you're a Club/Fee-Levy group, clean out your office! All those boxes of swag from 2006 are totally out of date, but some crafty folks would love to use it! Feel free to bring your pamphlets and stuff like that too. 

TWO: If you've got a particular skill (like hair cutting, stencil-making, or knitting...) come by and share your wares for free! It's a great chance to promote your talent. 

THREE: Clean out your closet and bring your own stuff! We'll be setting up at 10am but you can bring things all day long. 

FOUR: Tell your friends! Find us on facebook! Tell everybody, even people you don't really like -- but particularly very fashionable people! 


If you have questions or want to contact us and get involved, don't hesitate to email us at uberculture at csu.qc.ca! 

See you on the 30th! 

your new best friend, 

überculture 

For more information and material about Buy Nothing Day, click here. 
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