I bet there’s at least one thing in your room right now that you don’t really want and is taking up just a little too much space.
I also bet you there is someone in the New Paltz community that would love to take it off your hands.
Wondering how you can make this easy exchange happen? Consider posting your unwanted items to the Buy Nothing New Paltz page on Facebook.
Buy Nothing New Paltz is one of thousands of Buy Nothing community groups inspired by the Buy Nothing Project.
This project was started in 2013 by Rebecca Rockefeller and Liesl Clark of Bainbridge Island, WA. The pair started an “experimental, hyper-local gift economy,” according to the project’s website, that has taken off across the globe.
This gift-economy works by allowing communities to create an online space in which individuals can post or ask for unwanted items that others can come and collect — for free!
It keeps unwanted items out of landfills and allows those who need or want them to attain them at no cost.
Items posted to the New Paltz page range from small or cute knick knacks to big ticket, would-normally-be expensive items people around the community are in need of. No matter how big or small the item, this project can truly make a difference and connect our community.
My favorite experience with Buy Nothing is when over the summer I decided to finally retire my twin sized bed and use my savings to buy a queen sized one. Having absolutely zero idea what to do with my old bed frame I posted it to the page.
I was quickly met with a message from a mom in need of a new bed frame for her son.
I disassembled the bed and left it outside for contactless pickup. Though I missed when she came to pick it up, my friends who were there later told me it was so cute to see her son excitedly hop out of the car and help his mom collect his new bed.
Later she sent me a message saying, “It’s perfect Morgan. Thank you! My little dude is so happy.”
It was such an easy way to help someone else and that message truly warmed my heart.