BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buy Nothing Project is similar to asking your neighbor for a cup of sugar, but virtually. It's a worldwide social movement, and thousands of "Good Neighbors" in Western New York are participating in it. Whatever a neighbor would like to borrow, or keep, or give away for free, they can post about it on their hyper-local Buy Nothing Project page on Facebook.
On the Eggertsville-Snyder Buy Nothing Facebook page, which now has around 1000 members, in the last month items that were up for grabs for free included an iPad, Kindle, Coach purse, and a working snow blower, as well as old stuffed animals, mismatched plates, and used baby buttpaste. All of those items went to neighbors who wanted them..
Katie Brown and Kati Fuller run the Eggertsville-Snyder Buy Nothing Facebook page, and they say they like that it goes back to the roots of turning to neighbors for help.
"I need to borrow a cup of sugar. I don't need to go to the store and buy it, maybe my neighbor has it. I need to borrow a tool but I don't need to own it forever. Maybe someone in my community has it. Or I have this item and I'm not using it but it still has life left in it, so rather than sending it to the dump or sending it to a donation center where it's going to go back to the market economy, why don't we try to keep as much stuff out of the market economy as possible to allow our communities to grow and flourish within each other," said Fuller.
The Buy Nothing Project was started by two friends in 2013 and it has gone global. The social movement now has over 4 million participants in 44 countries.
This map shows there are dozens of Buy Nothing neighborhood pages in Western New York. On most pages, users have to request admission to the group before they can start participating.
All the Buy Nothing Project Facebook pages work the same way. One neighbor posts an item they want to give away for free. Other neighbors comment that they're interested. They let it simmer for a few days to garner interest. Then the gifter picks a giftee by random selection or any way they'd like, and they arrange an item pickup or drop-off. It's that easy.
But Fuller and Brown says it's not the stuff that makes it great, it's the people.
"It's been really huge and really instrumental during Covid for community building. It allowed members of our community to stay connected with their neighbors, meet neighbors and build relationships," said Fuller.
Neighbors can ask to borrow something or for a helping hand, and others can freely volunteer their time and services.
"For example, we all had extra food at Thanksgiving. If somebody couldn't get together with their loved ones for Thanksgiving we offered to deliver Thanksgiving meal plates," said Fuller. "It's been so amazing to meet the community, get to know them and just be able to support each other."
During a dark and difficult time, the Buy Nothing Project brings generosity and light.
"We try to have people post gratitude posts about them using the item or appreciating the item and giving the love back to the neighborhood. And that's really made it tight knit and very positive and it really helps form positive connections," said Brown.
The Eggertsville-Snyder group has also collaborated with the Village of Williamsville group to host a Free Flea Market at Island Park in the spring. They are planning to host another Free Flea Market in the fall.
If you know of a "Good Neighbor" who should be featured on Channel 2 News, email details to Melissa.Holmes@wgrz.com .