Buy Nothing groups give new life to unwanted items in your life

Hannah Church calls the Buy Nothing Facebook group she manages for the Millbrook area in Raleigh a way for people to "think about the stuff they own, the stuff that they purchase and stuff that they can use in new and meaningful ways."

The Buy Nothing Project is active in over 25 countries across the world. The rules for the groups are simple: You can post anything you want to give away, lend or share, and you can ask for anything you'd like to receive for free or borrow.

The project's leader, Rebecca Rockefeller and Liesl Cark, started the hyper-local gift economy project in Washington in 2013. Since then, over 1.2 million people have participated in Buy Nothing groups on Facebook, where groups are primarily located.

"We get to know the people that live around us, and hopefully, through these small interactions where we're giving and receiving and expressing gratitude, we come to understand each other and be more accepting of differences within our community," said Church.

Church started her Buy Nothing group in July of 2020, after being laid-off from her job due to the coronavirus pandemic and being in a previous Buy Nothing group.

In order to be an administrator for the group, she had to go through training, which took her a couple of weeks to complete.

"There's a lot of thought behind this and a lot of philosophy behind there and a lot of intention and I really loved that," she explained.

Church's group has now grown to over 500 members in the past six months. Once the group reaches 1,000 members, it will be splintered to create even more hyper-local communities.

"It's called 'sprouting' and it's something that they recommend in order to keep the philosophy of Buy Nothing and continue with growth," said Church. "The groups are supposed to be about getting to know your closest neighbors, so when the founders started the group, one of the things that they wanted to make sure was that it would be accessible to all different types of people."

Ideally, a group's boundaries will allow neighbors to be within walking distance to pick up the items they give and get.

In the Millbrook group, members can find posts for books, household items and even fresh produce. Church said it's fun to see the different ways that things given away in the group can take on new lives.

"Someone can give away some little seedlings from their garden, perhaps a retired person who gardens, and maybe that [next] person that takes the seedling is a mom with kids and they use that in their homeschooling and hopefully, that person will come and post on the group and say, "Hey, look this is what I did with my kid," said Church.

"I think more, and more, especially during this time, people are looking for ways in which they can receive from people," she added. "There's also tons of people that are purging stuff from their homes, so I think people are looking for groups."

Church said that when people receive items, the expressions of gratitude they post can start a new chain of giving and receiving.

"I think people are aware of what a struggle it is to keep money, objects and wealth local," she added.

The project also aims to recognize the disparity amongst different groups of people and to be conscious of it in the groups.

"I think one of the things that are unique about Buy Nothing, as opposed to some of groups, there is also a component of striving for social justice and inclusivity within the group," said Church.

To find a Buy Nothing group near you, click here.