image by hikikomorix

When I was thinking of topics to write about concerning frugality and environment the one thing that kept cropping up was community.  I really think that one of my biggest assets in working to live a frugal, environmentally friendly life is my strong and helpful community.

It’s a hard one to quantify. I can’t look at my monthly expenses and easily say, “my community saved me $200 this month,” but they provide me with so many tangible and intangible benefits I can hardly count them all. It’s amazing to me what people accomplish when they pull together.

As strong interdependent relationships with our neighbors have become less and less common we have had to fill the gap with money and things. We buy things instead of borrow them. We pay for services instead of trading for them. We buy things to make us feel better instead of getting together with a friend to commiserate. I really think that gradually, without even noticing it we as a society have replaced community with consumption.

In my community, we are turning the tide the other way. One of the easiest ways we help each other out is by passing along stuff we no longer need to others who could use it.

It’s the change of the seasons and here in the frozen North that requires a change of the wardrobe. Perfectly usable clothes that fit my kids have been packed away in a box for next summer, when they probably won’t fit, and perfectly usable clothes from last winter that may or may not fit are being pulled out of boxes, washed and evaluated. If I were to buy new clothes every season it would create a lot of waste and cost a lot of money.

Luckily, every other mom I know is engaged in the same ritual. Some have daughters older than mine and some have daughters younger than mine. Naturally, I’m going to offer the clothes Isabella (my youngest) has outgrown to my friends and neighbors with smaller girls and my friends and neighbors with older girls have offered their clothes to me. When I’ve sorted out what I have that still fits, what can be passed from older sister to younger sister and what I’ve received from friends I can usually fill in the gap at thrift stores, garage sales, from my sewing stash and, if necessary, Target for about $30 for both kids.

When I do get new things for the girls, often from my mom or my grandma, I know that if I care for these items they will probably last through at least three kids, maybe four or five. It’s not just clothes either. The crib my girls slept in as babies was originally their cousin’s and when we moved to Minnesota I passed it on to my friend Michelle. The odds are good that when Michelle was finished with it she passed it on to another family.

When we reorganized our house we passed on several pieces of unwanted furniture to friends. Most of those pieces had originally belonged to someone else. The heated leather recliner chairs that were perfect for my empty nester parents’ Nintendo battles were cluttering up what is now our kids’ playroom so we passed them along to some friends of ours who needed some good chairs for their living room.

We don’t really do it to be virtuous, although I’ll admit I feel better knowing that the things I no longer need aren’t clogging up a landfill. There’s a natural flow of goods to those who need them when you have a strong community. It’s a wonderful sort of efficiency. There’s no tit-for-tat, “I gave you this now you owe me” stuff because, really, what did we need with clothes that don’t fit the kids and furniture that doesn’t fit the space?

At the end of the day, the stuff we didn’t need found it’s rightful home and everyone was happy and grateful. Our homes are more comfortable and our kids have all the cute, seasonally appropriate clothing they need to get them through to the next change of seasons. Everyone wins.

Obviously, if I hadn’t given stuff away to my friends I would have donated what I could to a thrift store, but that can be hit or miss. They wouldn’t have taken several of the pieces we have given away, like the crib and a queen size mattress. Other things like clothes may have ended up being sold at the thrift store or it may have ended up in the dumpster. This way I know for sure that the goods will be used.

Lives change. Needs change. People change. All of these things can make items we own obsolete or unwanted, but as the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

Have you been able to build up a community where you can share the things you no longer need with others who do? Let us know in the comments.