It all started innocently enough: I had some leftover Halloween trinkets and toys that weren’t given away during trick-or-treat time, and I decidedly did not want to keep them for another year, storing them away someplace “very safe” that would be forgotten by the next Oct. 31. They didn’t really fit the bill for a Goodwill drop-off, and none of my friends with kiddos wanted them. I lamented this situation to my friend Denise with no shortage of dramatics.
“You could post them on Buy Nothing,” she offered.
“Huh?” I replied, as eloquently as I could.
“Buy Nothing,” she repeated patiently. “Surely your neighborhood has a group. Check Facebook.”
Two days later, my Halloween toys had departed, almost by magic, from my front porch. And with that, I was hooked.
Buy Nothing groups have been around for quite awhile now, and most are like my neighborhood group, which is to say quite active. Also, quietly active: The BN community had been scurrying around my very street for years without my ever getting a whiff. But once I was in, I was IN – and many of my items were OUT, zooming out the door at record speed.
If you’re unfamiliar (as I was) with the concept of Buy Nothing, here’s a primer: The movement consists of hundreds (thousands?) of hyperlocal communities, mostly centered on neighborhoods or other close-proximity areas, where members both give and take freely from one another. Have some excess wrapping paper? List it on Buy Nothing! Need a baby monitor because your cat careened through a china cabinet and was thus laid-up for 10 days? Ask for it on Buy Nothing! See a set of Super Mario Bros.-themed pint glasses offered by a neighbor on Buy Nothing? Ask to be considered!
And while sometimes someone will offer a “quick pick,” one of the group’s mantras is “Let it simmer.” Members are encouraged not to let the group become a first-come, first-served experience, but rather one that is equitable to all, in all professions and on all schedules. This is especially helpful with the more popular and sought-after offerings; sometimes the likes of an Instant Pot can garner a dozen requests straightaway.
Since joining Buy Nothing back in 2020, I’ve both given and taken freely. I needed a new set of martini glasses for New Year’s Eve one year, and lo and behold, here came a beautiful set just a week or so after I started looking! I found myself in possession of several bottles of carpet cleaner when just one would do, and before too long the excess bottles were waiting on my porch for pickup by a neighbor. We’ve started puzzle and board game “round robins,” a traveling collection of items to be picked through and added to from stop to stop. We’ve helped furnish apartments for Afghan refugee neighbors and people just starting out. And we’ve made friends in the process!
In this age of overabundance and excess, it’s a great thing to be able to circulate items through the neighborhood based on what the community needs. And did I mention it’s free? You can’t get much more recessionista than that! Have a look at the Buy Nothing website or your social media channels to see if you can find a group in your own area. You’ll fit right in!
:)