Give and Take

A little while ago on a drizzly Saturday morning I headed into town to go to a ‘Give and Take’ session at a community centre hall.

The principle is pretty simple, you bring things along and take things away. You don’t have to bring or take you can do one, both, just browse. I took a couple of cookbooks I didn’t want any longer and came away with some curtain lining, a rotary herb cutter and three little wooden salt spoons.

I was really pleased with the lining because it was just what I was looking for to get my next project started (beeswax wraps – should be posting about this soon).

It was also a great resource because I found out that there is a seed swap held at one of the local church halls which is just what I needed.

It’s remarkably difficult to find places and ways to barter goods and services in the UK. A lot of it is making sure you know the right people which is a non-starter when you are just getting going. There is a website called u-exchange but it is very basic, doesn’t seem all that secure and a lot of the trading is services (not bad but unless someone needs a poet I’m not much good).

This event was a lovely way to start the year because it gave me hope – that I will be able to make a difference in my consumption of products, that I can reduce and reuse.

VCL.