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When someone posted a blood type test kit on a local Buy Nothing Facebook group in Queens, NY, they may have wondered if anybody would want it.
Someone did.
“I think it was leftover from one of those food diet things where you find out what’s best to eat for your blood type,” said Sheri Sayles, who responded to the post and picked up the test kit from her neighbor.
This transaction was part of the gift economy — a way to exchange random items you don’t want with your neighbors who might have a use for them. It’s all free.
Buy Nothing groups on Facebook, the Nextdoor website and app, and other online platforms exist in neighborhoods across the country, helping people get free stuff online — sometimes stuff they never knew they needed.
What is a Buy Nothing Group?
The first question you might have while reading all of this is a simple one: What exactly is a Buy Nothing group?
The initiative started from humble beginnings: Two friends in Bainbridge Island, Wash., began the Buy Nothing Project in July 2013, aiming to save people money and reduce waste. It has since grown to more than 7,500 communities and 6.5 million members, per the project’s website.
Their mission is all about community and gifting: neighbors in hyperlocal areas post what they have to offer and ask for what they need.
While the project initially ran everything through Facebook groups, the company transitioned in recent years to an in-house app, called the BuyNothing app. The platform comes with some distinct benefits: first, users can set their preferred geographic distance, from one mile to six miles. Unlike Facebook, there is no requirement to approve users, eliminating at least a few delays.
But fret not: if you’re a beloved user of Facebook groups, Buy Nothing still exists on the platform. In fact, the site maintains a directory of its groups based on country and state. You can easily find the group closest to you.
How Do They Work?
The basic idea is…
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