Buy Nothing, Build Community: a Hackerspace Barter Experiment (& free resources to replicate)
Last weekend at CRASH Space, we hosted the Rebel Sewing Inaugural Swap Meet, an event that I was excited to host as an experiment in cultivating a barter-based circular micro-economy. Here’s how it went, including resources and a detailed event planning breakdown for other organizations within the Hackerspace movement to try it themselves. If you have any questions, feel free to DM me on Instagram or Discord @ vibefae and I’ll get back to you (and will update this post with FAQs/clarifications if appropriate).
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Recap
Why Barter?
Let’s be real, the world is a dark place right now, and the economy is hitting hard. Promoting community cohesion, resilience, and intertwined self-reliance is the way to go!
- bartering builds community and promotes cohesion
- bartering builds economic resilience and limits effects of inflation (twofold benefit as it is an essential skill for a post-collapse America)
- (my personal belief) makers deserves a sacred space that is free from classism, greed, capitalism, profiteering, automation, and productivity complexes, and thus, engaging in trade without currency is a form of resistance + resilience
- there are many, many online and physical spaces for buying and selling secondhand, but not so much for bartering or giving away
Showcasing 3D Printed Notions
Notions (an umbrella term for tools and accessories used in textile and fiber arts) are an exciting way to introduce people to 3D printing, because fashion is one of the more niche disciplines 3D printing is used for. A lot of traditional 3D printing disciplines exist in male-dominated spaces, so this is a great gateway for getting more diversity in hackerspaces. At CRASH, we have lots of interdisciplinary makers that help promote that culture!
Chatting about upcycling scraps
Fiber and textile artists tend to hoard scraps – and for good reason, there’s so many ways to use them! We discussed and showcased some cool ideas from the internet, which can be viewed below.
Ways to upcycle scraps
- IG: Bag charms
- IG: 7 Scrap Buster Projects
- IG: Fabric tape
- IG: Textile pottery/sewing cording+scraps=basket
- Pinterest: Mini silk screen
- Pinterest: Couching technique for 3d embroidery
- Pinterest: 3 scrap fabric ideas
- (Bonus tip: many fiber/textile artists will also use shredded scraps as stuffing for making poufs and plushies)
Swap Highlights
Probably the most exciting highlight: Alicen, our VP/Events Committee Chair found a wedding dress (and is excited to light it up for Neotropolis, so unlike many wedding dresses, this one is getting multiple wears)!
People were very kind. Often, you can get creative with bartering if you don’t have something the other person wants, like swapping multiple times to build up to it. Since our first “cohort” here was so incredible, we didn’t even need the middleman steps! There was largely a mindset of “if the label is green, and you have a use for it, just take it.” This greatly helped with facilitation, because it allowed people to do more indirect swaps and encouraged a non-competitive, abundant, resource-sharing mindset. This was super rewarding to witness and be a part of!
Generosity is absolutely contagious.
Many swappers, including myself, went into the event marking some items with yellow or red tags, but received some exciting items (for me, a large scrap piece of genuine leather) that made us more open to giving freely without expectation of immediate reciprocity.
Since people were trading with an open mind, we did actually end up with more surplus than we started with, because many people simply donated their items after doing one trade. These will be freebies at Wearables Wednesdays and future swap events and scrap busting nights, and if it gets to be too much, they’ll be donated to Remainders.
Resources
Swap Facilitation: Label Sheet Print & Cut Files
The creation of these sheets was by far the most labor intensive part of the process, but the infrastructure was rather successful, so I’m glad I put the work in to be able to do this again with more ease later on. I used cheap matte inkjet sticker paper, designed everything within the Silhouette Studio software, printed on my home inkjet printer directly from Studio, and cut with my Silhouette Cameo 4. Printing directly from SS with the registration marks formatted allows the machine to then calibrate the blade position by reading the registration marks.
I’ve posted a free download link on my itch.io profile with a zip file of all the label sheets. Click the button above to go to that page, download, and see my notes on usage.
Alternatively, you can use standard labels as name labels, color label paper with red/green/yellow markers, and then use shaped hole punches if you have a bunch at your space (die cutters would also work). I like the new Sharpie Creative paint markers for this type of thing – they also work well for doing quick patterns like dots or stripes if you have more attendees than shapes.
Event Planning: Detailed Breakdown
| What? | Who? | When? | Why? | How? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event activities | Intro people to Rebel Sewing series | – | – | Event was a prequel to this series | Give tours to and discuss with event attendees that were new to CRASH |
| Share 3D printed notions | – | – | Emphasize a niche of 3D printing that makes it more accessible and appealing to disciplines that are less traditionally male dominated | Yarn spinners, yarn needles, stitch markers, buttons, bias tape makers from my collection were displayed (and given out as freebies toward the end).QR Codes to Printables collections curated by hosting member were displayed. | |
| Talk about upcycling scraps | – | – | For the circular economy vibe that’s a part of both Rebel Sewing and Buy Nothing culture | Could have been done better, but I was tight on time, so I made a QR code for a list I made in my Notes app with links to examples from Pinterest and Instagram.In future iterations, I will consider using popsicle sticks with NFC stickers. | |
| Swap fabric, yarn, and notions (no selling/buying) | – | – | Themed swap meets seemed more likely to be successful.There are plenty of spaces (physical and digital) for buying and selling secondhand supplies, but barely any for bartering. | Set up tables on one side of the room. Included surplus supplies from the space as either “take for free” or “swap for anything” items. Provided shaped and patterned name tag and item label sheets. These were designed for printing and cutting through Silhouette Studio with a cutting machine. The unique shape/pattern on the item corresponded to that on the name label on the person for easy identification without needing to hover by the swap tables. | |
| Timing | Date of event: 9/28 | Hosted by person who suggested the event (events/programming committee member) + VP (events/programming committee chair) | Sunday.Last weekend of September.Late morning-afternoon. | As a prequel to the Rebel Sewing Series, which would start in October.Makers start working on Halloween costumes in October.Weekends are more accessible to the public, and parking is easiest near the space on Sundays. | – |
| Promotion | Instagram (link) | Assets + copy: hosting memberPosted/paid promoted by: Event committee chair via the org instagram | 9 days before the event, posted in the afternoon | Notify the public/draw in prospective members | Flyer designed by hosting member using Procreate, inspired by templates found on Freepik, utilizing free commercial use font found on Gumroad |
| Blog (link) | Hosting member | A few hours before posting on Instagram | Standard procedure | – | |
| Calendar (link) | Event committee chair | After posting on Instagram | Standard procedure | Link to partiful and instagram caption copy in calendar event description | |
| Discord server | Hosting member | After posting on Instagram | Notify existing members | – | |
| RSVP Tracking | Partiful (link) | Set up by hosting member, organization account (managed by event committee chair) added as co-host | Set up right before promoting | TBH, I’d love to find a “cleaner” alternative to Partiful, but as it stands it is the easiest to set up, it’s popular, and it allows you to send text blasts for free. I tested Apple Invites but it isn’t as user friendly for Android users. | Settings: default notifications turned on, not public (invite by link only), capped at 20 attendees (with waitlist management turned on). I also updated the Partiful with a link and screenshot of a logistics one-pager (link). |