Anne Marill was at her mother’s home, helping to clean out unwanted items, when she discovered a dozen boxes of matzah. Half were opened and the find included two boxes of coveted shmurah matzah.
Marill’s mother was about to throw them in the trash when Marill stopped her.
“I said, ‘No no, no, mom. People want matzah year-round,’” said Marill, a member of Beth Sholom Congregation in Potomac.
Marill made a post about the leftover matzot in her Jewish Buy Nothing group on Facebook. The unwanted unleavened bread quickly found a home, where it became matzah pizza and matzah brei.
At the same time, group members shared their matzah memories and their favorite matzah brands.
That’s the power of the Buy Nothing Project, the 10-year-old conglomeration of community-based groups that encourages giving of consumer goods and services in preference to conventional commerce. It’s about buying nothing and selling nothing. The project aims to breathe life back into old-fashioned neighborly giving.
Ozana Papados, a member of Adas Israel Congregation, started the local Buy Nothing ― Jewish Edition Facebook group, which has 1,300 members.
“Everybody has things laying around that you don’t want in the landfill, you don’t want it to be burnt or buried ― but you would like to share with others,” Papados said.
In the Facebook group, members post what they need or what they’re looking to give away. People respond, saying they’d like the item or that they have one the original poster can use. Then the two parties make the exchange ― no money involved.
Members have exchanged a wooden seder set for kids – complete with mock wine bottle, Kiddush cup and Haggadah. Sisterhood pendants have found new homes, as have a variety of Chanukah-related items ― including a snow globe with a teddy bear and a menorah.
Papados said she had been part of the Bethesda Buy Nothing group when she realized that the Washington-area Jewish community could benefit from its own Buy Nothing group.
Since then, she’s been contacted by people in New York and San Diego looking for advice on launching their own Jewish Buy Nothing groups.
The most popular items, according to Papados, are mezuzot. They go really fast, she said, whether they have a scroll or not.
“I’m just really excited that people in our area feel about this type of exchange the same way I did,” she said. “And they find it useful. It just brings, I think, a lot of joy to other people ― both the givers and the receivers.”
Marill said the group scores high in tikkun olam.
“The idea of having and being able to share the extra stuff I have with other people and vice versa is huge,” said Marill.
The Buy Nothing Project has given new life and homes to heirlooms of all kinds.
“We didn’t have a star of David for my daughter,” said Leigh Verbois. “Someone posted one in my neighborhood [Buy Nothing] group, and they gifted it to us.
“Their grandparents had purchased it for them, and they loved it but they did not use it. Although it was really meaningful for them, they weren’t using it. They wanted someone else to use it and it really resonated with us.”
That was two years ago. Since then, Verbois’ daughter, Lorelei, has worn their star of David every day.
Verbois said she has experienced the sense of community Buy Nothing exchanges foster as both the receiver and the giver.
During the pandemic, “it truly kept me connected to my community in a way that made me feel like I was giving back to my hyper-local community, in a way that felt meaningful ― by making masks and making food in real time to give people the things that they needed,” she said. “And I think that was something that I really needed.
This month, Verbois made a post in which she was looking to share Mardi Gras-themed bar mitzvah decorations.
Devorah Walder, a doctor of acupuncture, responded. She said she is sold on the Buy Nothing philosophy.
“Donating to a thrift store is good, too, but when you do that sometimes the item gets sold and there’s money raised, some thrift stores are for profit, and you don’t necessarily know that the item you’re giving away will be resold. It might get thrown out,” Walder said. “But with Buy Nothing, it’s going directly to someone else who genuinely wants it.”
Learn more about the Buy Nothing Project at buynothingproject.org. Find the local group founded by Papados by searching “Buy Nothing – Jewish Edition DMV” on Facebook.
