In the spirit of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning and The Joy of Less, experience the benefits of buying less and sharing more with this accessible 7-step guide to decluttering, saving money, and creating community from the creators of the Buy Nothing Project. In 2013, when friends Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller launched the first Facebook Buy Nothing Project group in their small town off the coast of Seattle, they never expected it to become a viral sensation. Today there are thousands of Buy Nothing groups all over the world, boasting more than a million members, and 5,000 highly active volunteers. In their island community, Clark and Rockefeller discovered that the beaches of Puget Sound were spoiled by a daily influx of plastic items and trash washing on shore. From pens and toothbrushes to toys and straws, they wondered, where did it all come from? Of course, it comes from us—our homes, our backyards, our cars, and workplaces. And so, a rallying cry against excess stuff was born. Inspired by the ancient practice of gift economies, where neighbors share and pool resources, The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan introduces an environmentally conscious 7-step guide that teaches us how to buy less, give more, and live generously. At once an actionable plan and a thought-provoking exploration of our addiction to stuff, this powerful program will help you declutter your home without filling landfills, shop more thoughtfully and discerningly, and let go of the need to buy new things. Filled with helpful lists and practical suggestions including 50 items you never need to buy (Ziploc bags and paper towels) and 50 things to make instead (gift cards and salad dressing), The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan encourages you to rethink why you shop and embrace a space-saving, money-saving, and earth-saving mindset of buying less and sharing more.
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Provide your email again so we can register this ebook and send you more of what you like to read You will continue to receive exclusive offers in your inbox Dedicated to everyone who believes our money is best used on those things that build a healthy, joyful, and equitable world INTRODUCTION How We Came to Buy Less and Share More Our story begins on a clear day in mid-December, a rare break between winter storms, on a wild beach not far from our Pacific Northwest community With the sun low in the sky, the light a pale wintry yellow, we walked along the beach with our children, watching four pairs of tiny bare feet trip through the sand Although we wore winter coats, the temperature was just warm enough for the kids to leave their shoes in the car, a welcome freedom from wool socks and rain boots The kids tiptoed barefoot across the upshore jumble of enormous Douglas fir and western red cedar driftwood logs as if on a tightrope, playing an imaginary game of circus acrobatics The water here was cold and deep, with a strong current and whitecaps between us and the hazy outline of Seattle’s hills across the Salish Sea We—Liesl and Rebecca—had been close friends for a year, and our kids, ranging from ages four to seven, were often inseparable, spending their days exploring the outdoors Their intrepid desire for exploration brought us to the wildest island shorelines we could find within after-school driving distance Rebecca is a single mom with two daughters, Ava and Mira She’s a blogger and social media consultant who comes from a family of activists and politicians fighting for the environment, and Liesl is a documentary filmmaker whose lens captures cutting-edge science and exploration for NOVA and National Geographic Many of her projects involve travel with her two children, Finn and Cleo, and her husband, Pete Athans With our shared love of adventure and the natural world, excursions to wintry beaches of this kind were a regular thing for us, and this one was just like any other, until Finn got a splinter, the downside of barefoot beach walks Liesl removed the offending barb before any tears could break the happy tone of the day, but we noticed something else clinging to the bottom of his feet… something that didn’t belong Tiny white balls of polystyrene foam and colorful minibits of plastic were lodged between his toes When we looked more closely at the sand beneath our feet, we found a couple of three-millimeter-wide plastic discs (We later discovered these are called nurdles, and they are industrial feedstock for all plastic products.) It soon became clear that the discs made up an alarming percentage of the beach-scape that day As the kids ran along the logs, yelling out with glee about their newfound game, refusing to touch the “plaastic saand” with their feet, we trained our gaze to look at what else was commingling with the sand, shells, driftwood, and seaweed around us We found larger bits of plastic debris that were even more disturbing: syringes, a green army man that Finn was happy to add to his collection, coffee stirrers, PVC pipe, pens just like Cleo’s from home, light switch covers, a Mylar helium birthday balloon like the one that Ava lost at a friend’s party when it slipped free from her fingers the week before, cigarette lighters, a bright yellow baby toy just like one Mira remembered having, car bumpers, and tampon applicators— objects of our everyday lives, all made of plastic, all washed up on our shoreline Of course the plastic had been there all along; we just hadn’t seen it until now And once we saw it, we couldn’t unsee it All of these items, things we used and relied on every day, had made their way to our beaches and were hiding in plain sight, not so much overtaking the beach as actually becoming part of it We consider that day—two years before we launched the grassroots and increasingly impactful Buy Nothing Project, which is now more than one million members strong with an astounding six thousand volunteers—to be the very beginning of our Buy Nothing journey We stumbled upon a seemingly small island story that was really a big global problem, and it inspired us to bring about social change to combat the reality of excessive waste and plastics in our environment What does it mean to Buy Nothing? Put simply, it is a philosophy that holds that the key to a joyful life of meaning and abundance on a healthy planet is to pursue every possible alternative before buying anything one wants or needs This is a philosophy we’ve been bringing to life through the Buy Nothing Project, a social collective of local gift economies—an alternative to the market economy that most of us rely on—in which neighbors share with neighbors, members “ask” for what they want instead of buying it, and members “give” away their gently used items instead of tossing them What started as a revelation at the beach a few years ago has translated to neighbors in dozens of countries sharing their stuff and their talents locally, willingly staving off needless consumerism But Buying Nothing means much more to us Buying Nothing is a shift in mind-set It’s a reminder of the truth in that old adage “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”; that there’s value in re-homing a once-loved, now unused item and giving it a new life, rather than condemning it to the attic or garage, or worse yet, the waste bin In a sense, Buying Nothing is a shift back to the way of our grandparents, the way people lived in the age before one-click buying, when you called a neighbor if you ran out of sugar or were short on gas for the lawn mower Many of us have become unsatisfied, wanting much more than we need, forgetting the days when it was not only acceptable to wear your mother’s or grandmother’s wedding dress, but just how things were done Our appetite for more is costing us a fortune, taking a toll on both our wallets and the environment Discovering persistent plastics on our shoreline was a reality check for us, an urgent wake-up call to something, anything, to start a conversation about our buying habits and, in turn, reverse the ever-growing trend of plastic pollution on Earth Some might say our dream of social change has come to fruition: we’ve launched a worldwide social movement of unrestrained giving and asking, receiving and sharing, all for free, with no strings attached Buy Nothing has legs, and the positive side effects are addictive In this new worldview—one based on a sharing-focused economy—everyone benefits, and anyone can take part: minimalists, maximalists, spendthrifts, community builders, and environmentalists alike Our Buy Nothing experiment—featured in the Washington Post, Mother Nature Network, Grist, Yahoo News, the New York Times, Australia Broadcasting Company, NHK Japan, CBC News, South China Morning Post, and on NPR—is a true, modern gift economy model, a system in which goods and services are distributed as true gifts, freely given without any expectation of reward, never bartered, traded, or sold Here, real sharing takes place, and no single person benefits above all Each participant accrues social standing through their actions, and we each reap what we sow Maybe you’ve already embraced the Buy Nothing mind-set, or take part in one of the many trending “sharing economies,” where companies like Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, and Vrbo have broken ground People around the globe are sharing their homes and cars, building tiny homes, borrowing from municipal lending libraries, and otherwise finding ways to share resources they own Much of this “sharing economy” still functions as part of the market economy, with money being exchanged for Uber rides and Airbnb vacation housing, for instance Buy Nothing offers you a chance to extend this mind-set so that you are giving and receiving without spending any money at all This book is an invitation for you to join us, starting wherever you are now regarding the idea of Buying Nothing We believe that we can all achieve greater personal happiness, more-resilient communities, and a healthier planet by creatively sharing what we have in abundance, and in this book we’ll provide you with the steps to it You don’t need anything other than your goodwill and a healthy human desire to connect with the people in your life To inspire you, we’ve included many giving and sharing stories throughout this book They’re all true, with a few names and locations changed to protect privacy Let’s stop buying, and try sharing more This book is a blueprint for doing just that, helping you to consume fewer newly manufactured goods, and share the bounty that already surrounds us We are all familiar with the three Rs of consumption: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle For us, there was another important R that was missing: Refuse In July 2013, we initiated our first local gift economy in our hometown of Bainbridge Island, Washington, eight miles from Seattle’s downtown ferry docks We launched a Facebook group for our island population of twentythree thousand and called it Buy Nothing Bainbridge The group buzzed with activity as members quickly came to see that Buying Nothing was not just a plausible lifestyle, but a convenient means to meet the people who live down the street By the end of the summer, we established eleven more Buy Nothing Project communities, and by New Year’s we had launched seventynine local gift economies, reaching into five states, each with the same simple mission of encouraging members to share more with those who live immediately nearby The idea was spreading quickly We were able to prove that anyone could Buy Nothing, asking for gifts before shopping and offering gifts instead of stockpiling or throwing out Someone nearby probably has what you’re looking for Members shared every thing and service they could think of: bookshelves, baby joggers, house cleaning, bricks, laptops, bread makers, haircuts, and canoes One of the first items shared was a spring to fix the inside of a toilet paper roll holder; someone posted it almost as a joke, but someone else needed it, and all of us realized in that interaction that the passing along of such a seemingly random but very useful item signaled that we could take care of one another We each had things that other people needed or wanted, small things as well as big, and the joy in sharing these things was the same no matter the gift We were hoping the Facebook groups would help decrease waste, which they did But there was an unexpected benefit: neighbors got to know other neighbors, communities were strengthened, and new friendships were formed Thanks to many acts of kindness, Buying Nothing caught on like a piece of good gossip We’ve found that there are three basic actions in a healthy gift economy that serve to strengthen the social fabric of any community: gives, asks, and expressions of gratitude These three actions are the foundation of the Buy Nothing Project, and all of the local groups encourage members to “give” away an item that’s no longer needed, “wish” for something they want or need, and post with “gratitude” for the old-new item that has a new home and purpose Here are just a few stories we’ve heard from various Buy Nothing groups: A woman starting chemotherapy in the winter asks for help with her garden and has fresh vegetables to eat, and new friends to eat them with, as she recovers her appetite in the spring A single senior citizen asks for a wagon to pull her senior dog on their walks around the neighborhood and gets the perfect set of wheels Baby clothes pass from family to family, a working coffee maker with a broken carafe is reunited with the perfectly good carafe of a broken coffee maker two blocks away A child’s school sock drive for the homeless results in thousands of single socks finding a new match A young woman recovering from an eating disorder asks people to meet her in see also plastics, plastic pollution polyethylene, 97, 236–37 POPs (persistent organic pollutants), 158 Portland, Oreg., Fix-It Fairs in, 146 Portugal, cork forests of, 184–85 potatoes, 94 pot scrubbers, 103 poverty, 18, 36, 38–39, 49–50 prescriptions, 29 Prince Edward Island, Fix-It Fair in, 146 printers, 199 protest signs, 203 public presence, 205 Puget Sound, 108, 116 punch bowl and glasses, 202 puzzles, jigsaw, 117 PVC, phthalates in, 105–6 Q Queensland, Australia, 83, 222 R Ragazzini, Enzo, 21 ragpickers, in Kathmandu, 174–75 rag rugs, 155 rags, 165 Rathje, William, 236 Really Really Free Markets, 180 receipts, thermal paper, BPA in, 158 receiving, 4, 5, 9, 10, 24, 26, 39, 40, 58, 64, 74, 88, 132, 172, 216 as community building, 25, 38, 44, 54, 74 connectedness and, 41, 42, 63, 70, 130–31 in gift economy, 33–34, 50, 52, 60, 209 gratitude in, 207–9, 214 ReCORK, 184, 185 recyclables, 80 in landfills, 234–35 recycling, 5–6, 233 recycling centers, 128, 237 reducing, 5–6, 145 of waste footprint, 7, 17–18, 26, 28, 29 reflecting: as 4th step in Buy Nothing Challenge, 126–28, 132–40 invitation to, 138–40 journaling and, 140 and questions to ask before buying, 139–40 on stories and emotions hidden in our stuff, 136 and subconscious needs and desires, 138, 140 refusing, see reusing and refusing renting: instead of buying, 126, 127 of storage space, 20–21 repairing, see making and fixing repurposing, 28, 40, 82, 89, 97, 99, 155, 174–5, 193 resealable bags, 97–98 resources, nonrenewable, 80, 127, 141, 215, 216, 226 Restart Project, UK, 146 reusing and refusing, 5–6, 28, 87–88, 132, 145, 226, 233 economic benefits of, 81 environmental benefits of, 83, 239 50 things not to buy, 96–124 in gift economies, 88, 89 invitation to, 124–25 personal benefits of, 83–84 SUDs not to buy, 96–121 as 3rd step in Buy Nothing Challenge, 80–84, 96–121, 124–25 ribbons, 106–7 rice, 94 Rochlin, Natale, 191 Rockefeller, Ava, 1, 2, 231 Rockefeller, Mira, 1, 2, 231 Rockefeller, Rebecca, 110, 111, 166, 168, 188–89, 191, 192, 196–200, 199, 203, 237 Buy Nothing inspiration of, 1–3 clothing refashioned by, 151 educational outreach of, 17 homemade cling wrap of, 105, 160–61 as lending librarian, 212 no-sew T-shirt bag of, 98, 99 one-dress experiment of, 85–86 as single mother, 36–38 Rockefeller family, 110 Rosier, Jaime, 75–77 round-robin clothing sharing networks, 128–29, 176, 177 rubber bands, 110, 128 rugs, rag, 155 S Sacred Economics (Eisenstein), 64–65 salad dressings, 113–14, 155 Samdzong, Nepal: gift economy in, 33, 34, 36 interpersonal connectedness in, 40 mukhia (headwoman) of, 34 San Francisco, Calif., 224 Sarah (Buy Nothing member), 83 scarcity, 141 school supplies, 179–80, 185–86, 198 Schramling, Shaine Martin, 42–43 Schwinn, Shelley, 224 SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast), 150, 189–90, 238 Seattle, Wash., 67, 69, 191, 224 Seattle Times, 67 secondhand markets, online, 127 seed libraries, 8, 178 seedling starter pots, 116 seeds, 187 self, giving of, 50, 55–57 self-awareness, 24 self-knowledge, 25, 216 self-reliance, 31, 65 self-storage facilities, 20–21 self-worth, 24, 36–37 serotonin, boosted by gratitude, 208 service, services, 41, 197, 204–5 compassion nurtured by, 205 giving of, 4, 6, 41, 50, 223 gratitude for, 208, 213 payment for, 62 serving ware, 199–200 sewing machines, 196–97 shareocracy, 172–73, 206 Shareocracy of the Future, 172–73 sharing, 3, 4, 5, 10, 29, 30, 40, 132, 219, 228 of Buy Nothing experience, 215 Buy Nothing model for, 171–72 as community building, 25 definition of, 170 50 things we share, 183–94 happiness and, 5, 203 ideas for, 175–81 invitation to, 205–6 as 6th step in Buy Nothing Challenge, 170–95 trust in, 172 see also borrowing; lending shipping and trucking, 18, 29, 83, 159, 226 shoelaces, 166–67 shopaholic-ism, 24, 129 shopping: anticipation and dopamine rush in, 87, 130, 131–32 emotional letdown after, 130–31 50 things not to buy, 96–124 mindful, 219–21 online, 87, 129, 130 shop vac, 198 Short, Barb, 190 shredders, 199 silica gel, 189 silicone straws, 111 Silver Spring, Md., 74 silverware, 123, 212 single-use disposables (SUDs), 103–5, 112, 124, 219 single-use items, 84 sink scrub, 162 Smulson, Jill, 56 soap dispensers, 162–63 social capital, in gift economies, 35 social media, 8, 19, 53–54, 73, 227 sharing outside of, 227–28 targeted advertising on, 130 social networks, 30, 39 skills libraries in, 179 social status, 38 socks, 183–84 Soop.app (Share On Our Platform), 54, 227 South China Morning Post, space, borrowing and lending of, 205 spice blends, 114–15 sporting goods, winter, 196 sporting goods swap, 180 stamps, 29 Steinberg, Sarah, 190 STEM science projects, 193 stewardship, 8, 49, 58, 60, 141, 147, 178, 182, 183, 199, 212 sticks, 188–89 Stittsville, Ontario, 126 storage space, 20–21 stories: accompanying giving, 22, 23, 49, 57, 58, 63 connectedness through, 48, 58 reflecting on, 136 shared in communities, 23, 211 straws, plastic, 12, 14, 17, 110–11, 112 stress hormones, and stuff, 22 string, 110 stuff, 19, 26, 39, 45, 67, 129, 135 accumulation of, 20–22 broken, see making and fixing identity and, 19–20 relationship with, 43, 132 renting of, 127 repurposing of, 28, 145 stress hormones and, 22 UCLA study on, 21, 135 stuffed animals, 186 styrofoam peanuts, 109 styrofoam trays, 185, 235, 239 sugar, brown, 161–62 sunglasses, 183 sweet potatoes, 94 Swiffer pads, 103 Swiss Chard, 91 Sylvia (Buy Nothing member), 210–11 T tablecloths, 200 tables, folding, 204 Tacoma, Wash., 15, 49, 207 tampons, 117 tarps, 193–94 tea, herbal, 154–55 tea leaves, 93 tea sets, 200 Tel Aviv, public toy stations in, 197 Telegraph, 16 telescopes, 203 tents, 196 Tetra Paks, 235, 239 things: to borrow or lend, 195–205 durable, in landfills, 128, 142, 179, 194, 219, 226, 228 libraries of, 171, 178, 212 to make, 147–68 not to buy, 96–124 to share, 183–94 tiaras, 203 tissues, 97 toiletries, 122, 192–93 tool libraries, 8, 178 tools, lending and borrowing of, 201 toothbrushes, 93 toothpaste, 15, 163 tortillas, 94 towels, 192 toys, 20, 39, 45, 48, 49, 110, 128, 177, 181, 186, 192, 197, 208 toy stations, public, 197 trash: inventory of, 233–39 repurposing of, 28 see also waste travel, 29 travel mug cozies, 165 TreeHugger, 96 trellises, 115 trust, 40, 51 in asking, 63 in borrowing and lending, 171–72, 205–6 in community, 49, 54, 172 in gift economy, 73, 172 Tucker, Ga., 209 U Uber, United Airlines, 224 United States: libraries of things in, 171 new clothing purchased in, 130 wealth inequality in, 142 utensils, 110, 227 plastic, 96, 111 reusable, 98, 195 V valentine cards, 107 vases, 123 vegetable gardens, 152 vegetable stock, 113, 150 video cameras, 187 vinegar, 149–50 volunteers, 8, 9, 50 Vrbo, vulnerability, in asking, 60, 61, 63, 64–65, 79 W wants, 30, 38, 39, 60, 64, 128, 132, 133 War Advertising Council, 81 warranties, 219 Washington, University of, 55 Washington Post, waste, 4, 83, 145, 147, 156, 183, 239 clothing, 85, 151 food, 90–91, 237–39 paper, 178, 234, 235, 236 plastic, see plastics, plastic pollution zero-, 18, 195, 200 see also landfills; trash waste footprint, reducing of, 5–6, 7, 17–18, 26, 28, 29, 145, 173, 194, 228 see also recycling; reusing and refusing water, bottled, 103–4 water bottles, 112 watercress, 94 watersheds, plastic waste in, 80 WD-40, 164 wedding industrial complex, 65 weddings, Buy Nothing, 65–67 wet vac, 198 White, Michelle, 84 Who Gives a Crap toilet paper, 220 Williams, Ben, 172–73 window-washing liquid, 102 wine corks, 92, 184–85 wineglasses, 123 wine vinegar, 149–50 Winnipeg, Manitoba, 59 winter sports clothing and gear, 196 women, 43 asking and, 63–64 in Buy Nothing Project, 51 as historically disenfranchised from market economy, 49–50 in “material culture” study, 21 as single mothers, 36–38 as society’s caretakers, 63 upwardly mobile, 129 wooden pallets, 187 work communities, 39, 46, 52, 73, 79 World War II, 81 wrapping paper, 106–7 Y Yahoo News, yarn, 166–67 yogurt, 153 YouTube, 146 Z Zocher, Myra, 54, 143 zooplankton, microplastics and, 13, 116–17 An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc 1230 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 www.SimonandSchuster.com Copyright © 2020 by Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever For information, address Atria Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020 First Atria Books hardcover edition April 2020 and colophon are trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschuster.com The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com Interior design by Dana Sloan Illustrations by Brooke Budner Jacket design by Emma A Van Deun Jacket illustrations by Getty Images & Shutterstock Author photograph courtesy of the authors Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Clark, Liesl, 1966– author | Rockefeller, Rebecca, author Title: The buy nothing, get everything plan : discover the joy of spending less, sharing more, and living generously / Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller, founders of the Buy Nothing Project Description: First Edition | New York : Atria Books, 2020 | Includes bibliographical references and index | Summary: “In the spirit of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning and The Joy of Less, experience the benefits of buying less and sharing more with this accessible 7-step guide to decluttering, saving money, and creating community from the creators of the Buy Nothing Project”— Provided by publisher Identifiers: LCCN 2019057686 (print) | LCCN 2019057687 (ebook) | ISBN 9781982113797 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781982113810 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Finance, Personal | Consumer education | Shopping | Home economics Classification: LCC HG179 C5853 2020 (print) | LCC HG179 (ebook) | DDC 332.024—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019057686 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019057687 ISBN 978-1-9821-1379-7 ISBN 978-1-9821-1381-0 (ebook) Table of Contents Title Page Dedication Introduction: How We Came to Buy Less and Share More Why We Should Buy Nothing The Plastic Age A Clean Solution The Psychology of Consumerism Drowning in Stuff The Unexpected Joy of Buying Nothing An Invitation to Buy Nothing Try Our 7-Step Buy Nothing Challenge The Rules Exceptions Step 1: Give Himalayan Teachings The Importance of Having Something to Give An Economy Built on Giving Step 1: Give How to Give Regarding Gift Economies, Women, Poverty, and Wealth How to Create a Gift Economy Group Gift of Self We Invite You to Give Step 2: Ask Money Separates Us, Gift Economies Connect Us We’ve Forgotten How to Ask A Buy Nothing Wedding Step 2: Ask All Gifts Have Equal Value Unexpected Connections We Invite You to Ask Step 3: Reuse & Refuse An Experiment in Buying Nothing Why Shopping Feels Good and Buying Nothing Can Feel Better Life Less Groceries Step 3: Reuse & Refuse 50 Things We Never Buy Make Every Day a Special Occasion We Invite You to Reuse & Refuse Step 4: Reflect The Thrill of Shopping Step 4: Reflect We Invite You to Reflect Questions to Ask Before You Buy Something Step 5: Make & Fix Be a Producer, Not a Consumer Step 5: Make Fix It! 50 Things We Make We Invite You to Make & Fix Step 6: Share, Lend & Borrow Create Your Shareocracy Step 6: Share 50 Things We Share 50 Things We Lend & Borrow We Invite You to Share, Lend & Borrow Step 7: Gratitude Step 7: Gratitude The Ultimate Gift We Invite You to Express Gratitude Just the Beginning: Buy Nothing for Life Share Your Experience Start Over and Over and Over Again Challenge Yourself to Buy Nothing Longer Buy Mindfully A Vision for the Future Giving Networks as Aid Organizations Saving the Earth, One Give, Ask, Share at a Time Real-World Sharing Appendix Acknowledgments About the Authors References Index Copyright ... seem to view their stuff as tangible aspects of their identity, and as proof of their worth, value, and existence and importance in the universe It’s as if there is an “I have stuff, therefore I... examines the relationships between people, their objects, and their histories Ordinary people sent in objects they wanted to donate along with their story about the object Other people could request... 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