The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan: Discover the Joy of Spending Less, Sharing More, and Living Generously

 Shirley J.         Adult Non-Fiction                 Re-Use, Re-Purpose, Recycle, Community Round Robins

The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan: Discover the Joy of Spending Less, Sharing More, and Living Generously by Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller   288 pages

Friends Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller live on a tiny island off the coast of Seattle, Washington.  In 2013 after cleaning up the beach only to find thousands of tiny pieces of plastic in the sand and multitudinous plastic items abandoned there on the beach and washing up out of the ocean they were struck by the horrors being done to the planet and the ocean life from this potentially re-useable and/or recyclable material.  They decided to do something to save the planet locally and started the Buy Nothing Group in which they pledged not to buy anything but to re-use, repurpose, recycle or share items within their community to save folks money and save the environment by not adding new stuff to their homes thereby in their way stopping factories from making new stuff, finding more uses for their current stuff to serve their needs and buy as little as possible.  They grew their own food to cut down on buying groceries (the vegans really won out on that one), they started a round robin with everyone weeding out the clothes they no longer wanted from their closets and passed around a bag of these items for everyone to take out what they needed which gave everyone new additions to their wardrobe for free and cleared space in their own homes.   They began doing this with household items and on to everything easily shared in this way among their group.   As word got out more and more people in their community joined.   They began a lending library of tools and appliances, then services to barter.   What they found was neighbors began to get to know and spend time with one another.   They began to trust each other and feel safe allowing strangers in their homes.   They began to do more as a community and the movement spread over social media and people in other communities began to form their own Buy Nothing Groups.  Now it also has a site to post anything you would like to have no matter how exorbitant to see if the universe might put you in touch with someone who could provide what you are  looking for.   People have been amazed it actually happens!    Great book with lots of sources and recommendations.   It really does take a village, a worldwide one to bring change.  I recommend this one to middle-schoolers on up.   What a great idea.  They prove one man's trash really is another man's treasure.