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Darcie Jernberg gifts Shelli Dickinson a stroller for her granddaughter through participation in the Buy Nothing project.

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Parting Shots: Buy nothing, receive plenty
10/28/2015 3:19:03 PM

By Staci Lehman
Splash Contributor

Want to make homemade salsa, but the grocery store tomatoes look a little sad? Maybe your baby is growing like a weed, and you don't want to spend top dollar on clothes he will grow out of in a couple months. Possibly your garage is full of old sports equipment and you want to make room to actually park your car.

The Buy Nothing project may be the answer to all those scenarios and more. Buy Nothing is a movement gaining momentum around the world. Its mission is to give people a way to give and receive, share and lend through a network of local "gift economy." In other words, instead of throwing away stuff you don't need, give it to someone who does. And instead of buying new things, ask if there is something you want or need.

"My granddaughter is coming, and I wanted to take her to the park, but I didn't want to buy a new stroller just for one day," said Shelli Dickinson, one of the volunteer administrators of the Liberty Lake/Otis Orchards-area Buy Nothing group. "So I posted a picture of a simple folding stroller. Four people offered to loan me a stroller and someone said they would give me one of those nice jogging strollers."

That's as complicated as Buy Nothing gets. Using a closed Facebook group page, members post items they want to get rid of and other members claim them. Buy Nothing is not need-based, and group administrators are quick to emphasize that it is not a charity. They say that it's really designed as a way to connect the community. Transactions between members create a chance to meet people you might not meet otherwise. There are no strings attached or any expectation of future reward.

Even so, sometimes it works out where someone is "repaid" for something they gave you. Dickinson was leaving town recently and had two gallons of unopened milk from Costco.

"They would have gone bad while we were away," she said. "So I posted it on the site, and the same woman who gave me the stroller claimed it." 

There are a few rules for Buy Nothing: keep it legal, keep it civil and no buying or selling or asking for money. The most stringent rule, though, is that members are only allowed to join one group, the one closest to where they live. This is to ensure that membership really is local, so people literally "give where you live," as the Buy Nothing website says. People interested in participating have to ask to join. Site administrators will confirm they are actually from either Liberty Lake or Otis Orchards before approving them.

There are also Buy Nothing groups in Spokane Valley, the South Hill and North Spokane. Areas that don't have a group can easily start one.

Once approved by site admin, Buy Nothing members can browse the page for available items or wait for them to pop up in their Facebook feed. Items currently on offer include garden vegetables, pet supplies, clothes and shoes, furniture and much more. A Victoria's Secret bra was even gifted recently on the site.

Participants comment on items they are interested in. Gifters can either give the item to the first person to respond, give it to the person they believe needs or wants it most, or even draw numbers to make the choice random. The person who receives the item makes arrangements to pick it up, have it dropped off or to meet the gifter somewhere to get it. The Wells Fargo kiosk in front of the Haggen store is apparently a popular transaction spot.

"I've pulled up there to drop something off or pick something up," said Dickinson, "and there will be several people waiting to meet people."

Not everyone finds what they are looking for on the site. When this happens, many people post what it is that they want or need. 

"I have only used it to offer something a couple of times," said local real estate agent and Buy Nothing user Wendi Helmick. "I have seen the posts and haven't needed anything that has been offered."

She has used Buy Nothing to get rid of her teenage daughter's clothes and shoes that she quickly outgrows and that would otherwise clutter her home.

"I am not into yard sales; I don't have time, and I am terrible at them anyway," Helmick said. "No use holding onto something that you already lost money on or that has fulfilled its use."

Like most people, Helmick found out about Buy Nothing through word of mouth.

"I was looking for a queen bed, and my friend added me to the group," she said.

It's not all clothes and household goods that people are giving and receiving. Administrator Dickinson said she recently needed zucchini for a recipe, so she posted a picture of a giant zucchini. 

"A lady responded that she had some so I took her some other vegetables from my own garden," Dickinson said. 

Another recent post was from a woman who is helping a young family learn to eat better and was looking for extra mixing bowls, a slow cooker and bread pans.

The 300-plus members of the Liberty Lake/Otis Orchards Buy Nothing group range from young moms to senior citizens, and everything in between. There are more women than men that participate, and there are several foster families who use it to help equip their foster children.

"It is basically a hand-me-down system that neighbors in a small community would do back in the day, but now it is online," Helmick said. "People can reach a bit further and make things happen faster." 

If you are interested in becoming a member, type "Buy Nothing Liberty Lake/Otis Orchards" into a Facebook search and request to join. 


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