There are a number of online groups dedicated to offering up goods, used and unused, to one’s neighbors — the free section on Craigslist, Freecycle Seattle, and more. But to me, one of the most fascinating communities is the Buy Nothing Project, which encourages neighbors to give away belongings that are cluttering up their homes or simply share things they may have in excess. The Seattle division of the project lives in Facebook groups separated by neighborhood and new members must request access to the pages from local admins.
When I frantically joined any and every group I could find—before I got booted for not actually living in six different parts of town—I stumbled across a ton of weird and wonderful shit. Sometimes discoveries characterized their neighborhoods: tons of outgrown baby clothes and breast pumping supplies from parents in Ballard, gardening supplies in Wallingford, and funky graphic tees in Fremont.
Here are some highlights from my first dip into the world of Buy Nothing Seattle:
• I Definitely Had To Google This One: An unused sitz bath. According to the woman who posted the somewhat unusual offer, the basin was given to her during pregnancy, but she didn’t try it out.
• True Love: And by that I mean bread, duh. I saw a number of offers to share sourdough starters with fellow home bakers. I, for one, would certainly take someone up on that.
• Not a Cannabutter Starter: During a quick scroll through the Buy Nothing Green Lake group, I somehow mistook a rolled-up furniture cover that was shoved into a cardboard box as a bag of shake. Alas, it was not. 🙁
• This Was Actually Pretty Logical: It might seem a little weird to offer up diapers online — but hey, these are UNUSED because the tyke who these belonged to outgrew them. And besides, diapers are fucking expensive! For new parents in a financial bind, offers like these could really come in handy.
• Chocolate Chick Cookies: Perhaps it’s because I became a chicken parent recently, but I found a strange beauty in a terra cotta-colored, chicken-shaped cookie jar.
• Some ~*Punny*~ Buttons: Someone was not such a fan of some Star Wars buttons. One featured a cartoony Darth Vader helmet with “Who’s Your Daddy?” written on the bottom. Does that remind anyone else of their cringey days of shopping at Hot Topic? Just me? Cool.
Are any of you part of a local Buy Nothing group? Share your experiences with the groups in the comments below — and if you ever find something particularly hilarious/odd/helpful, feel free to send them my way. I may include them in a future roundup.
This post has been updated.
