Reasons to be Cheerful: The Spark: Maximize the mirth, minimize the waste

Welcome back to The Spark, our monthly newsletter that’s all about how people just like you are creating positive change, one meaningful step at a time.

How “free stores” replace commerce with community

Create an alternative gift registry to cut waste

Giftwrap is out –– furoshiki is in

Every first Saturday of the month, a cheerful group of volunteers sets up tables in front of the Ryan Chelsea-Clinton Community Health Center in New York City. At the intake table, they sift through donations and sort trash from treasure. Textiles, food, pharmaceuticals and dirty or broken items aren’t accepted. The rest is carefully laid out –– stacks of dishware over here, lamp shades and picture frames over there, some unused toiletries, a corner for children’s books and toys.

Welcome to the Hell’s Kitchen Free Store. “What I love most is that we don’t have a bank account. We don’t have a till, any money to sustain us at all. It is all done through donation,” says Martha Gelnaw, who has been volunteering with the project from the start. “Everybody feels good on both the giving and the taking side.”

The project grew out of neighborhood swap parties run by social worker and community organizer Chana Widawski. In March 2021 she recruited a group of volunteers to put up shelves in the disused side entrance of a closed business on West 45th Street in Manhattan, turning it into a 24/7 public storefront where people could leave and take items based on their needs, with no cash changing hands. The inventory evolved organically from day to day, with volunteers chatting to interested passers-by and keeping the store tidy and clean. It immediately attracted interest –– as much for the comradery as the promise of free stuff. “It became a community center, a gallery, a place to get things,” remembers Widawski. “It’s about the intersection of waste diversion, mutual aid and community building.”

Overconsumption and waste go hand-in-hand, and both peak around the holidays. Americans spend more money in December than in any other month, while creating 5.8 million tons of additional waste. Gift returns peak in the first week of January, with many going straight to the landfill.

Free stores offer an alternative –– finding new treasures and getting rid of unwanted items while bypassing the spend-to-waste pipeline. “It’s such a feel-good thing,” says Gelnaw, who also enjoys selecting small gifts for her grandchildren at the store.

They come in all shapes and sizes, from brick-and-mortar shops to permanent public spaces and regular pop-up events, the latter sometimes also called Really Really Free Markets. “It doesn’t have to be a giant 24/7 thing instantly. Mine started as a community event that I did once, and then it was successful, so I did it again,” says Widawski. Another option is to start by focusing on a certain type of item, similar to Little Free Libraries and community cupboards.

When the Hell’s Kitchen Free Store lost its permanent location due to a change in building management in 2023, the volunteer team quickly rallied and started organizing monthly pop-up events in partnership with the Ryan Center. “It’s not that hard. Put your tables out, take stuff in, give it away,” says Gelnaw. “It’s so doable.”

In addition to partnering with local organizations, the key to a successful free store is the cohort that makes it happen, says Gelnaw. “Sustaining a volunteer group is an art.” Their group coordinates via WhatsApp and monthly meetings, with people pitching in in various ways –– some volunteer at events while others print flyers, prepare banners, or source new tables as needed.

“It was a very important element of our model that anyone could pitch in to do whatever they can, when they can, however they can,” says Widawski. “It’s okay. You’re part of the community. This is yours.”

Read a step-by-step guide to starting a free store in your community here.

Between end-of-year holidays, weddings, birthdays and baby showers, buying and receiving endless streams of presents can feel like an inescapable part of the social contract. But alternative gift registries, like the SoKind Registry from the Arizona-based nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity, let you ask for the things you truly want and need, including experiences, used items, charitable donations and gifts of time and skill. How about a notebook of trusted family recipes for the newlywed couple? A home-cooked meal or a week of dog walking for the exhausted new parents? A museum pass for the kids? Alternatively, setting up a “Give List” lets loved ones know what kinds of alternative gifts you would like to give this holiday season.

See a sample family holiday wish list from SoKind here.

Most giftwrap can’t be recycled. The Japanese tradition of furoshiki –– which refers both to the practice of wrapping items in reusable textiles, and to the decorative cloth itself –– creates beautifully wrapped gifts without the waste. Since the production of textiles consumes resources and energy, furoshiki is only truly sustainable if the cloth gets reused many times. That’s why furoshikicloth is traditionally returned to the gift-giver for reuse. Alternatively, parts of the gift, like a scarf or a blanket, can be used to create a furoshiki-like wrapping.

Learn different furoshiki wrapping techniques from this infographic by the Japanese Ministry of the Environment.