Introducing: New Edition of Rules & Self-Serve Website

From our hearts to yours, we are excited to make our Buy Nothing Project stronger by providing easier access to our materials. Our website is now the central, self-service hub for all of your Buy Nothing needs! You can access everything you need here to build or improve a local Buy Nothing community group. We’ve organized some perennial resources and some brand new offerings in our Buy Nothing Academy, Freesources, Buy Nothing Groups on Social Media, and the Buy Nothing Library. We offer these works to the world as a freely-given Buy Nothing gift so we can continue to grow this experimental Project together. We’ll continue to create, curate, and add more resources here, so please visit often (and subscribe if you’d like to get automatic notices about new additions).

OPTIONS: For years, the only way to access the resources to set up and run a Buy Nothing local gift economy was via a network of closed groups on Facebook. We receive requests every day from people who would like to build Buy Nothing communities on other platforms and offline, and we’ve been listening. Our new website hub design gives everyone access to our tools. If you’d like more information about all of the Buy Nothing options, please visit our Build a Buy Nothing Gift Economy page. If you know you’d like to set up a Buy Nothing community group on Facebook or another social media platform, visit our Buy Nothing Starter Pack page for a quick and easy roadmap and free downloadable kit. As your group starts to grow, you’ll find even many more resources in our Buy Nothing Groups on Social Media section and myriad freely-given posts that you can use in your community by downloading the sample text and images. Each Helpful Post is intended to inspire anyone build community.

UPDATES: If you’re part of an existing Buy Nothing group on Facebook, please update your group’s 10 Rules and Group Description (submit the form on one of these pages for your free downloadable copy). We’ve reorganized the order of the 10 Rules to match the Fine Print, we’ve shortened the wording, and we’ve added full URL links (the owner of the previous shortened Bitly links has decided to redirect them all to Rick Astley, and while we love a good RickRolling as much as the next person, that’s not so functional for Buy Nothing groups). We have not changed the Rules, we’ve just (hopefully) made them easier to understand and access. We’ve updated the Group Description to make it easier for you to describe your community and also easier for you to use this copyrighted material legally. We hope you’ll serve your Buy Nothing community by providing these more functional updated versions.

We’ve also simplified the group set-up process by providing the All About the Buy Nothing Project information on a public page here on our website. In the past, we provided a copy of this document for each group to upload to their Files section on Facebook; now all you need is the 10 Rules document that links your community directly to the most current information about this Project we’re all part of. This also works with some changes Facebook is making (uploading new Files will no longer be possible in their groups).

GRATITUDE: Every 2-3 years we update the rules and group descriptions, bringing the new lessons we’ve learned to the original words we crafted over 8 years ago. Our gratitude to everyone who shares their Buy Nothing experiences and suggestions with us; our shared narrative is making this Project better and increasing our collective positive impact on our local communities and the planet we share.

Yours in Giving and Gratitude,
Rebecca and Liesl