I shop, therefore I am. So what happens if you stop shopping?

Buy Nothing Day (BND) on Saturday is your chance to find out. No mooching, queueing or swiping for a whole 24 hours – not so much as a pint of milk or a virtual Facebook gift. Holster your plastic and forget your PIN. Participate by not participating.

This is the 15th annual BND. It was, typically, started by an artist in Canada who probably couldn’t afford anything anyway. It’s now run by Adbusters, the neo-Luddite “culture jammer” network, which also runs TV Turnoff Week. Scheduled in 65 countries, BND is supposed to make us meditate on the evils of rampant consumerism. We’re shopping all the way to the apocalypse, they insist, and it’s time to stop pushing the trolley. So what to do during Saturday’s retail detox? Adbusters suggests running a swap shop, scaring friends with a sock puppet – “consumer monster” – or crafting your own Christmas gifts.

The Cowley Club, Brighton’s libertarian social centre, is running a gift-making workshop – BYO recycled sticky-back plastic. If you really can’t kick the high-street habit, you are allowed to go there . . . you’re just not allowed to buy anything.

Just think what a powerful statement it would be if all of Britain’s consumers hung up their carriers – a shot across the bows of big business and a handy money-saver to boot. Best of all, it would make things much easier for me. I’ve got to get around John Lewis, Fortnum’s and the Carphone Warehouse this weekend and at this time of year the crowds can be a complete nightmare.

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