As I previously posted, my flight back to Malawi was recently cancelled. Hopefully I will begin the long trip back to Africa tomorrow. Cooler weather will soon arrive in the Warm Heart of Africa. Soon everyone will be complaining about the cold. The windows do not shut tightly in most Malawian houses. There is no heating and temperatures at night can dip down to 50 °F (10°C). Consequently, during this 3 week interval in the USA, I needed to acquire warm bed linens (blankets, comforters, or quilts) for our two beds. When a house is cold, it is nice to have a warm bed in which to seek refuge.
Two days after arriving in the USA I checked Amazon for possibilities. As usual there were too many choices and I grew weary trying to figure out which would be the warmest but least bulky to transport in my luggage. Thinking that in person shopping would be more fruitful, I visited Target. Everything was sealed in unopenable plastic. Discouraged, it finally dawned on me—Buy Nothing.
Do something beneficial for both your bank account and our planet. Buy Nothing.
The Buy Nothing Project was established in 2013. Its purpose is to tighten community bonds by hyper-local gift giving. I access Buy Nothing as a Facebook group. I am not alone in doing so, as about 5.3 million people are regular users like me. The idea is simple. Rather than discard items one may not be using, give them away to someone who will use them. When I have items to give away (“to gift” in Buy Nothing-speak) I take a photo and post it online with a description. Other members respond if they would like an item. We agree on a mutual time for the item’s exchange, often leaving it on a doorstep with a name attached. I have given away furniture, books, plants, and art. When my mother moved in with us for a year, she arrived at our door with hundreds of pairs of pants and shirts. We gave about ninety percent of her clothes away; most had never been worn and had the sales tags attached. Conversely, I have been the happy recipient of books, kitchen items, and clothing, all still perfectly good but needing a new home.
Returning home from Target, I looked at my local Buy Nothing group to see if anyone was giving away warm bed linens. No luck. I tried Asking for items, something I had never done previously. Again, no luck. My group is very active with dozens of postings each day. I figured that if I simply waited a few days something would appear. Bingo! Last week someone posted they wanted to gift two quilts, one for a king size bed, one for a double size. Perfect The item’s former owners did not need to add them to a landfill. My household gets to stay warm in the upcoming Malawi cold season.
Try it. Buy Nothing is now considering migrating off of Facebook and establishing their own web-based platform. If you have a local group, I encourage you to access it, whether on Facebook or elsewhere. Do something beneficial for both your bank account and our planet. Buy Nothing.
