February Challenge: Share

A lesson you might have learned in elementary school (but I didn't)

As someone who was an only child for a glorious decade, I came late (and reluctantly) to the idea of sharing. My participation in the recess snack economy was mostly on the side of taking, especially if my friends had cool snacks, like Dunkaroos or Fruit by the Foot. (Thanks, Steph, for still being my friend.)

But now with a true convert’s zeal, I believe that sharing is essential: not just to reducing our environmental impact but to strengthening community bonds and making for a more resilient society. Sharing can actually make us happier, and a bit richer too. Plus it means less cluttered homes, more friendly exchanges, and that sweet sweet helper’s high. It’s basically all upside. (That said, I still do not believe in sharing my special treats if my partner eats all his first. He made his choice.)

In the roughly 82 years we’ve been in this pandemic, we’ve seen a boom in sharing, whether it’s people asking to borrow books or puzzles, dividing plants, cooking for others, or passing on that precious sourdough starter. It not only saves trips to the store and overburdening postal workers, it’s a way to connect with a human being, even if you can’t see the southern hemisphere of their face, even if you’re just leaving a package outside a door.

In a normal February, we all need an injection of warm fuzzies, but now it seems essential. So this month our collective goal is to find ways to do a little sharing.

ICYMI, here’s some background reading:

• The secret side of stuff

• So you want to declutter

Now let’s get into this month’s challenges.

Join a Buy Nothing group.

The modern incarnation of Buy Nothing groups started with Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller, who set up a gift economy group on Bainbridge Island, WA, in 2013. (They didn’t invent the idea — gift economies are a part of the traditions of many cultures around the world.) The only rules for their group were that it was confined to a limited area (this is very helpful, for both convenience and building trusting relationships among neighbours) and that everything offered was totally free. (So, no bartering.) Their group became a model that has been replicated all over the world, with over 1.2 million participants. (They wrote a very digestible, quite inspiring book about it, The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan, and I’d recommend it if this idea gets you going.)

If you’re a Facebook user, do a quick search to see if there’s a Buy Nothing group in your area. (You can also search under “free stuff” for other giveaway groups.) If you have an active community page but no Buy Nothing group (and you don’t want to start one), try starting a gifting thread in another local group. (Again, local is key, since it should be easy to exchange.) In November, one person started a thread in my neighbourhood group, and it worked just like a mini Buy Nothing, with people offering and asking in the thread. People gifted bed frames, a wireless keyboard, area rugs, a baby monitor, wine glasses, diapers, and and French tutoring from a (specifically requested) LGBTQ tutor.

If you keep your face out of Facebook, you can use Freecycle or the “free” sections on Kijiji or Craigslist to participate in the month’s challenges, though they won’t offer the same sense of community.

Lend or give something away.

According to the famous many-decade Harvard Study of Adult Development, one factor in living a longer, happier, healthier life was “generativity” — helping, mentoring, etc. But the effect can extend to giving physical stuff or money too. Researchers Christian Smith and Hilary Davidson found a regular giving practice makes people happier and healthier. Giving something to others is also a gift to yourself! Plus, sharing something doesn’t just make you feel good in the moment; it’s the beginning of a bond between two people. When someone does something nice for you, you want to do something nice in return.

It’s a pretty safe bet that we all have something kicking around we don’t need, or an abundance of something we can share. I just thinned my bookshelves, and ended up with plenty of books in need of a new home, and I’m currently making hundreds of packages of saved seed. It might be as simple as giving away leftovers if you made too much, or baking an extra loaf of bread. And in case you have literally nothing you could share, consider sharing expertise and offer an online consultation to someone.

Ask for something you need.

This can feel vulnerable and a little like failing, given that we’ve all been brainwashed with individualism and self-sufficiency our whole lives. But it’s useful to feel both that vulnerability and the gratitude of getting what you need. A while ago, I asked for a bit of white paint to repaint my front door. I picked it up off someone’s porch the next day. That paint didn’t become hazardous waste and my door got its mini makeover. Easy.

*The level up*

If all of this seems pretty easy, or maybe you do it already, try to buy nothing this whole month. Okay, not nothing nothing. You’ll probably want to exempt things like food and toiletries. But if there’s something else you need, see if your community can provide it. I’ll be taking this on. Join me?

---

Wins of the Week

“For the greater part of human history, and in places in the world today, common resources were the rule. But some invented a different story, a social construct in which everything is a commodity to be bought and sold. The market economy story has spread like wildfire, with uneven results for human well-being and devastation for the natural world. But it is just a story we have told ourselves and we are free to tell another, to reclaim the old one.

“One of these stories sustains the living systems on which we depend. One of these stories opens the way to living in gratitude and amazement at the richness and generosity of the world. One of these stories asks us to bestow our own gifts in kind, to celebrate our kinship with the world. We can choose. If all the world is a commodity, how poor we grow. When all the world is a gift in motion, how wealthy we become.”

— Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

This week, we’re celebrating:

• Kennedy, age 7, who, with her mom and dad, discovered Tiny Toy Co when clearing out some old toys. She suggested they involve others, and over the past few weeks they collected and bagged donations from close to 50 local families. They donated 14 bags and over 300 pounds of toys that will be upcycled into numeracy or literacy games or sold secondhand to reduce waste and overall consumption. I love that Kennedy has already mastered the art of the scale-up! Diverting one family’s toys is awesome, but 50 families’ is incredible. (And now 50 families know about Tiny Toy Co., and kids got to practise giving away what they don’t need.) Special shout-out to her parents, Colette and Ryan, who handled the logistics to make this happen, and for raising a little greenie!

• Sarah Joy, who gave her dad a book about soil science in the hopes it might encourage him to cut back on his chemical inputs and peat. (Peat is a common ingredient in soil mixes, but it comes from bogs that are huge carbon sinks — we need the peat to stay where it is.) She says, “He has now declared that this spring he’s going to be making the switch to using mulch, compost, manure and garden cuttings instead! He’s really got excited about what he’s read and is sending me notes now.”

• Jessica and Crissy, who both bought some Birds and Beans coffee for themselves or as gifts. (A throwback to a very early newsletter about more sustainable coffee!)

A special shout out, too, to everyone who took on last month’s food waste challenge. If that led to wins you haven’t shared in the FMFP Facebook group, hit reply and let me know! As always, if this content is useful to you, I’d love it if you hit that heart button and shared it with people you know. This party is open to everyone — let’s make it a rager for the planet.

See you in a fortnight!

JK

Five Minutes for Planet is written by me, Jen Knoch, and edited by Crissy Calhoun. Opening photo by Christian Stahl on Unsplash.