Buy Nothing

Sorry it's been so long since I wrote a post--where does the time go? I can't believe it's only a week til Christmas Eve! I'll catch up with stuff later, but today I wanted to elaborate on something I mentioned last time--my Buy Nothing group.

Have you heard of the Buy Nothing Project? This is something that was started by two friends back in 2013, after one of them made a trip to a village where everything was shared, including the animals, gardens, etc. When one family was finished with something, it was shared with someone else, and if someone had a need, others would fill it. Sounds a little Utopian, doesn't it? Well that sparked an idea that Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller carried out in Bainbridge, WA in 2013, and is now in over 30 countries around the world.

Here's how it works. These are FaceBook groups that are formed in communities, to keep it local, and the Mission is this:

 "We offer people a way to give and receive, share, lend, and express gratitude through a worldwide network of hyper-local gift economies in which the true wealth is the web of connections formed between people who are real-life neighbors."

 Basically, you ask for what you need, and you give from your own abundance.Everyone has something to offer, because gifts are not only objects, but can be gifts of time, talent, or self. Some of the things being gifted or requested right now on my group's site are coats, dog toys, baby formula, Christmas decorations, a sofa, art supplies, cute coffee mugs for an after-school program, bookcase, heated vest for a flagger, VHS tapes, puzzles, a floor lamp, a go-cart that needs work, baby dolls, jewelry, space heater, rice cooker, and the list goes on. One of our members has a list of 30 families who are in need of things for Christmas, and she has been gathering gifts since October. We have donated clothing, laundry detergent, toys, bath products, towels and washcloths and a bazillion other things that she has already been wrapping and delivering.

But we are not charity groups. We are like ultimate recyclers, keeping things out of the landfill, squeezing every bit of usefulness out of of ordinary objects. Someone decided to clear out their nail polishes, and a couple of pre-teen daughters were delighted to have them. I don't drink coffee and am vegan, so I asked for coffee grounds and eggshells for my composter--and got more than I expected! And in the process, we meet each other, get to know each other, and care for each other. We have carried meals to those who have had surgery, we have shared plants from our gardens to help landscape a new home, and we have celebrated the birth of many babies. 

Want to learn more? Go to https://buynothingproject.org/find-a-group/, and check for your country or town. Can't find one? Then think about starting one!  That's what I did. About a year after moving here, my daughter told me about the group she'd joined and told me I should join my local group--except there wasn't one. She declared I should just start one and so I did! We will be 2 years old tomorrow, and we have almost 900 members now! 
I hope you'll join a group, or start your own. The perks are amazing!