What is a 'Buy Nothing' Group?
Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash
Buy Nothing groups are platforms to give away or trade items you no longer need or want to members of your community.
Often run via Facebook groups by the Buy Nothing project, they are moderated by someone in your surrounding neighborhood. Every Buy Nothing group the CutTheCrap team has been a part are in the places they’ve lived, and are extremely active with goods to give away.
Whether you have appliances, clothes, arts & crafts, garden supplies or plants, or anything else in relatively good condition- someone in your community could most likely use it!
Buy Nothing groups not only help you save money and practice slower consumerism, but you may find some cool items you never even knew you wanted or needed.
Buy Nothing groups are one of the best things to come from the Facebook platform, along with other amazing groups promoting environmentalism and combating consumerism.
It is an amazing space for community members to interact with each other and share items that are going to otherwise be sent to landfills or donated. Essentially, they’re an online thrift store, except everything is free or only the cost of an item trade.
How do I find a ‘Buy Nothing’ group near me?
If there is an established group for your area, there will be a Facebook group made online with an admin to moderate.
To find your local Buy Nothing group:
Search “Buy Nothing” and the name of your town or neighborhood on Facebook and see if a group comes up. You may be surprised to find other groups in your area dedicated to keeping unnecessary waste from our landfills!
Go to the “Find a Group” page on the Buy Nothing project’s website. Every official Buy Nothing group around the world is listed and hyperlinked.
There Isn’t A Group Near Me, How Do I Start One?
The creators of the Buy Nothing project take starting a new group pretty seriously. So if you are interested in starting a group for your area, you need to be prepared for a few small responsibilities.
To begin, you can fill out Buy Nothing’s Start-a-Group form. Make sure that you can commit to being an admin for the group, which involves volunteering to monitor the group’s activity for 15-60 minutes each day.
If your request gets approved, Buy Nothing will then have you go through a seven-day training session. From there, Buy Nothing will create the official Facebook group for your town, which you can then promote, monitor, and use.
While this seems like a big responsibility, once the group is established and begins to grow you can expand the responsibilities and take a step back. I highly urge anyone who can make a group to do so, it will greatly benefit your community!
Share your favorite Buy Nothing group finds on Facebook with the hashtag: #BuyNothingGroupTreasures and be sure to connect with CutTheCrap Facebook page.