Facebook groups where community members can give away items they no longer need, request help or share free services are growing in Edmonton during the coronavirus pandemic.
Christine McCourt-Reid joined the Buy Nothing Laurier Height-Glenora group when it launched in July 2018.
Over the years, she’s picked up puzzles, books, champagne flutes, decor items and art from neighbours who no longer need them — all for free.
“If you are doing a deep clean of your house and have things you want to get rid of, it’s a great place to post things and see if others in your neighbourhood might be able to use it before you actually dispose of it yourself or donate it,” McCourt-Reid said.
When a wind storm toppled her patio umbrella, a neighbour even offered to fix it, free of charge, through the group.
“It’s actually about so much more than becoming waste free. It’s really about building community and connection as well,” she said.
“It’s been so wonderful for so many people to meet their neighbours and help each other out with anything they might need.”
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With so many people isolating at home over the spring, and with many stores closed or operating at limited capacities, McCourt-Reid said interest in the group spiked.
“We saw an 80 per cent uptick from March to April in the number of users we had in the group — so a lot of new people joined,” she explained.
And those people didn’t just join, they participated as well, McCourt-Reid said posts were up 200 per cent between March and April.
A post normally consists of a photo and an offer to the group. Alternatively, it could be a request for something that another neighour might be willing to give away.
Before the pandemic, there were seven Buy Nothing groups in Edmonton. Five more have popped up in the months since.
Founder of the Buy Nothing Forest Heights-Greater Hardisty-Ottewell group, Melissa Bryant, said some things like kids items are always popular on the page. But the pandemic has given rise to the sharing of other things too.
“You see a lot of COVID back yards happening. A lot of yard tools and plants getting swapped back and forth among neighbours, which is awesome.”
Bryant’s group ballooned from 100 members at its start to more than 650.
She’s offered up many things herself since creating the page in September 2019.
“We’ve given away chives and mint, we’ve given away clothing, dishes, I had an old snowboard and bindings that I don’t use anymore,” she said.
In return, she’s picked up items like a Paw Patrol helmet for her son, clothing and in some cases, she’s borrowed tools for a weekend.
“The biggest one we’ve seen so far is one lady’s mom had passed away and she put the entire estate through the Buy Nothing page, which is really incredible,” she explained.
Bryant said there’s a number of reasons she likes the idea of the Buy Nothing project.
“You don’t need to be buying things all the time. It reduces consumerism, it reduces waste. You get to know your neighbours, it feels good giving.”
If your community doesn’t have a group, Bryant encourages people to start their own.
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