The Buy Nothing Project is growing in Ottawa – and along with it, a network of neighbours
Editor’s Note: This story was a part of the series The Gift, which ran in the March 2026 issue.
It’s not just about the free stuff in Buy Nothing groups. It’s about being neighbourly as well. Photo Credit depositphotos.com Plusstudi
Whether they knew it or not, her neighbours helped her out. Dinelle received items they’d listed for free that she otherwise may have gone without.
Dinelle is a member of her local Buy Nothing group on Facebook, Buy Nothing Eastway Garden/Riverview Park/Trainyards, Ottawa, ON.
“I couldn’t believe the things people would gift,” recalls Dinelle. “I’d been given a lot of great things that helped me as a single mom for many years. I received children’s toys, dressers, cupboards that I painted, created storage in my garage and clothes for my oldest who’s now 12. A really cool boat sandbox that I painted for my son, a Cozy Coupe… so many things.”
She’s given gifts through the group as well – “a pellet stove an ex-boyfriend had left for me to figure out how to use,” she says – and other things she thought others could benefit from.
The world’s largest free-goods platform, the Buy Nothing Project has been transforming how people declutter and consume since the first online group formed in 2013. What began in the U.S. as a hyper-local gifting experiment aimed at reducing waste through sharing rather than trading or expecting something in return, now has members around the world, with hundreds of neighborhood-specific groups (some areas are broken up into sub-areas to make them more manageable as the groups grow larger) in Ottawa alone.
Because members are encouraged to join a single group through the Buy Nothing platform which includes Facebook groups and apps – and participate in giving, receiving and borrowing only within their immediate area – participation is not only about saving money and reducing waste but forging friendships and strengthening communities.
“I’d rather gift to my community than bring one more item to Value Village,” says Jennifer Blattman, who, like Dinelle, is a member of Buy Nothing Eastway Garden/Riverview Park/Trainyards. She’s also received gifts – the “best/oddest” being TV’s The Simpsons family “in very, very large doll format. They took up the whole backseat and looked like [the family] on the couch in the opening of the show.”
For Kanata resident Wendy Dawson, The Buy Nothing Project is a way for her to keep the giving going – she picks up craft materials to supply the four different Girl Guides of Canada units she volunteers with.
“By thinking laterally and reimagining what others may consider garbage, we have been able to make waterproof over mitts from old tents for HeadStart nursery kids to extend their winter playtime, crochet hats for Shawna’s Outreach from donated yarn and made [items] from donated pillowcases for a Kanata rabbit rescue,” she says. She also donates regularly, finding new homes for things her own children no longer have use for.
“I have gifted all the baby stuff and clothes that the kids outgrew, toys, kid furniture and outdoor equipment,” she says.
Another group member, Emily Sauvé, also passes on kids’ items – everything from clothing to sports gear and toys, games and books.
“When the need to make space becomes too much, I really enjoy putting in the effort to give items a final sendoff to another family or kid who will love them or make good use of them,” she says. “When it’s time to declutter, I’m so heart warmed by how things I haven’t used in so long can bring people joy [and] I’m grateful to the community for giving our used things a second life.”
Sauvé always asks her children before gifting something that belonged to them to ensure they are ready to let the item go.
“My younger one now often says, ‘I think it’s time to move this along’ when she’s done with something, and sometimes she’ll identify a younger kid who may benefit from it. And she’s worn things that older kids will say, ‘I remember that,’ so it makes her feel connected.”
As for Dinelle, she describes life as being far more stable than it was years before. Still, the mother of three continues to enjoys the feeling of connection in the Buy Nothing community. This group, she says, “has been a blessing.”
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