Traffic jams.

Hourlong lines at area stores.

Everything-must-go holiday sale specials.

Not for some Lawrence area residents, who stayed away from the stores and celebrated the anti-consumer holiday — Buy Nothing Day — on one of the biggest shopping days of the year.

“Instead of celebrating spending money … let’s celebrate time with friends,” said Rich Garrett, who along with his wife, Ellie, hosted friends and family at their home on Alabama Street in honor of Buy Nothing Day. The Garretts and their friends ate Thanksgiving leftovers, played board games and had a chance to catch up each other.

Buy Nothing Day is observed on the day after Thanksgiving in the U.S., and in more than 60 other countries on the following day.

The tradition began in 1992 in Vancouver, British Columbia, as an alternative to excessive holiday shopping.

It’s an easy enough holiday to celebrate: just don’t buy anything. Celebrations nationwide have included credit card cut-ups and theatrical “zombie-walks” through malls.

The Garretts, who moved to Lawrence this summer, have been celebrating Buy Nothing Day for the last eight years after realizing that they had been going overboard with holiday spending.

“Something needed to change,” Ellie said of their decision to take part in the holiday.

Earlier in the day, Lawrence resident Anne Burgess celebrated Buy Nothing Day by participating in the Lawrence Coalition for Peace and Justice-sponsored “War Toy Protest.” Burgess has been involved in the protest on the corner of Ninth and Massachusetts streets since 2001. Protesters use signs and props encouraging parents not to buy violent games and toys for their children.

Burgess said she worries that violent toys are “numbing (children) to the effects of violence” and wants parents to consider cooperative toys. “It’s a way to assure the future is going to be a little more peaceful,” Burgess said.

While some view Buy Nothing Day as a symbolic stand against the nation’s over-consumerism and violent culture, others simply enjoy the time with friends and keeping away from the crowds at the stores.

Richard Jones, an area metalworker, said the gathering at the Garretts’ was his first official Buy Nothing Day activity, though he usually stays away from the holiday shopping crowds and prefers a “slower, more judicious” shopping pace.

For Carla Tilghman, the gathering at the Garretts’ was a chance to evaluate life priorities. Tilghman, who has been participating in Buy Nothing Day for about 10 years, said she likes the day after Thanksgiving to be a “just hang out with friends day.”

“It makes us think more about what we really need … we have enough stuff,” Tilghman said.