‘Buy nothing’ movement, where people give and take stuff for free online, thrives in McHenry County

Fisher Outreach Group Executive Director Jacci Richards is always on the lookout for items for people in assisted living facilities or nursing homes. In April, the charity was notified that a woman was in need of a new lift recliner chair. Hers was worn and ripped from years of use.

Within four hours, Richards was able to secure another reclining chair for free from the Crystal Lake Buy Nothing Facebook page.

“It changed her entire world,” she said. “Now she could get up and down by herself. Now she was in something that was clean and comfortable for her.”

The “buy nothing” movement – also sometimes called free-cycling, the gift economy or “buy nothing new” – has exploded in popularity in the past few years across the country. Local communities use Facebook pages and other social media platforms where people can offer up items to give away or make requests for items they’re trying to locate.

Residents volunteer to start and maintain each group. The Buy Nothing Project, started in 2013 by two friends in the Pacific Northwest, has resources on how to start a group and how to set guidelines. Now, the gift economy program is said to have more than 128,000 communities around the world.

Crystal Lake Buy Nothing administrator Kristin Sotos started the group’s Facebook page in 2021; it now has about 9,000 members. She expanded the boundaries to neighboring towns such as Lake in the Hills and Algonquin because they didn’t have their own groups at the time.

“It’s been pretty cool to see the awesome community of people in the group and how people are so willing to help one another,” Sotos said.

Tracy Bramlett, administrator for the Cary Buy Nothing Facebook page, said she thinks the overall movement has gained so much traction because the cost of living has increased. She even sees people giving away excess food.

“It’s a giving and a taking community,” she said. “It is not like a yard sale site where the first person interested gets it.”

Bramlett describes herself as an “eco warrior” – many participants see the environmental benefits of recycling their items rather than throwing them away – and said she likes her posts to linger so everyone gets a chance to see them.

“A lot of people that can benefit the most from these pages are people like me who work two jobs,” she said. “I can’t be on my phone all day.”

One of her favorite moments was when members jumped in and gave away bins, kids tables and supplies for a first-year teacher.

“She basically completely stocked her entire classroom off of the Buy Nothing page,” Bramlett said.

Monitoring the page can be time-consuming because of scam posts, member drama or people trying to turn around and sell items they get from the page. Air duct-cleaning posts are a common scam that Sotos and Bramlett have seen on their pages.

“There hasn’t really been too many issues, which is good because it’s such a large group that you never really know what to expect,” Sotos said.

“I would say it’s 95% positive and 5% eye rolling,” Bramlett said.

Sotos thinks the movement has gained so much traction since it encourages people to declutter and it’s convenient.

“It feels good to know that your items are actually going to somebody who can use them, and it helps a little more when you know the story behind the person you’re giving to,” Sotos said.

Her motivation for starting the group was to help neighbors and create a community while keeping things out of a landfill.

“It helps give what somebody might call ‘junk’ a second chance,” she said.

Popular items given away are baby clothes and toys, furniture and women’s clothes. Sotos has even seen couches, TVs and tablets given away.

“All sorts of stuff that you wouldn’t believe,” Sotos said, “Michael Kors bags, high-end items.”

Baby formula samples, hand-me-down clothes, toys, baby gear, children’s sports equipment all help parents, Bramlett said.

“Not everybody has that village of family and friends. This page allows for that,” Bramlett said.

Cary Buy Nothing members Jacquie and Gio Garcia joined the group about a month ago to look for items for their newborn baby.

Jacqueline Garcia was able to give away her entire dining furniture set over the weekend. She decided to offer it for free as a way to pay it forward, she said.

“Not everyone can afford to get furniture,” Garcia said. “I was once in that position.”

Richards, of Fisher Outreach, said she thinks people are straying away from donating items to thrift stores since people want to make sure their items get put to good use.

“It was a great avenue for people to give things that they wanted to give away to people in the community that could use them,” Richards said.

The nonprofit is running the holiday adopt-a-grandparent program that provides gifts for people living in low-income assisted living and nursing homes. Richards has been able to get some gifts through the Buy Nothing New Facebook group, such as candles.

The group also came in handy when McHenry County Senior Services reached out to Richards about a man who was entering senior housing and needed furniture. They were able to gather key items like a TV, kitchen appliances and chairs, Richards said.

“Between us and McHenry County Senior Services, we were able to furnish his entire apartment, just from the kindness from the people in the community,” Richards said. “I don’t think people understand what it means to the senior that’s getting that item.”

Bramlett has further goals to engage her Cary community page with themed weekends such as makeup and children’s clothes for boys or girls “so everybody can just kind of go shopping,” she said.

“It’s great for recycling, it’s great for keeping things out of landfills and it’s great for building a village of parents and friends who may not have that support through their family,” Bramlett said.