Strange Exchange
When Lela Means and Christina Gilyutin thought up Strange Exchange, it was about the stuff. Lela had recently cleared out her mother’s house in Pennsylvania and discovered how hard it is to responsibly offload small items that people tend to accumulate but are tricky to donate or sell. And Christina was used to friends dumping stuff on her, knowing she would do her best to find a new place for it. So in 2023, they posed two questions to themselves: “How can we create pathways for small items that don’t have a place to go?” and “Is there a subset of small, useful items that have value to both the community and/or local nonprofits?”
They began by asking local nonprofits “What are the kinds of household items you can always use?” Sure enough, SCRAP wanted art supplies & costume jewelry (including broken jewelry), Lions in Sight wanted old prescription glasses, Haight Ashbury Food Program wanted wrapped plastic utensils and tea bags. They also believed that some items such as sunglasses and stickers would be fully absorbed by the community. Gradually, a collection list was crafted and a venue (the Farmers’ Market) was chosen.
Christina thought the best case scenario would be: “people would find a place to donate things they didn’t want, and maybe find some free markers for their kid. Highly transactional…serving a function.”
On their trial run at Christina’s neighborhood block party, one woman gleefully brought over arm-loads of jewelry, saying: “This is just my first cut!” Since then, over 2,700 lbs of reusable items have been collected. But it didn’t take long to realize they were tapping into something bigger than merely stuff.
From that first day, they saw these transactions had an intensely gratifying social element. Someone said: “Wow, you’ve re-introduced the human element into Buy Nothing (the facebook group dedicated to giving away items).”
They agree that “the social element is where the magic is…the joy has been above and beyond…people love finding some little thing they really need, like a single screw in the right size…”
Now, at the Sunday Farmers’ Market in the DMV parking lot in San Francisco (which lets them have a table free of charge), they see both regulars and newcomers every week. One regular says that her daughter never wanted to come to the Farmer’s Market before, now she wants to come every week just to stop by Strange Exchange.
So what’s next on the horizon? Expanding to other Farmers’ Markets? Offering part-time opportunities to young people who want to learn how the operation works? Perhaps a network of “ambassadors” across the city manning satellite collection sites? Lela and Christina agree that any scaling up of Strange Exchange will be mindful of what is making it so successful so far: creating positivity and social interactions through “shuffling” stuff around. They are the Strange Exchangers, but they could also be called the Reshufflers.
Stop by their table on a Sunday. Follow them on Instagram @strangeexchangesf. Or start a Strange Exchange in your own neighborhood!
Lela Means and Christina Gilyutin were interviewed by Heath Massey for this piece.
Upcoming Reuse Events + Opportunities
September 28 : Santa Rosa Reuse Bazaar
Santa Rosa Residents are invited to drop off their items and ‘shop’ the swap. Reuse Alliance will be on hand to help test and assess items and get things to reuse organizations at the end of the event in order to help divert as many things as possible. Master’s Touch Upholstery will be there to consult on furniture refinishing and reupholstery.
October 8 : Creative Reuse Center Virtual Roundtable
Are you a Creative Reuse Center? Join us on Tuesday October 8th at 10am PST/1pm EST for our second virtual Creative Reuse Center Roundtable. Details for how to register at the link below.
October 10 : SRJC Green Living Fair
We will be doing some walk-up repairs at the Santa Rosa Junior College campus in Santa Rosa for their annual Green Living Fair. The event is open to the public.
October 12 : Rohnert Park-Cotati Repair Fair
Our next Repair Fair will be part of a larger Reuse and Repair event on Saturday October 12th that will kick off all the amazing North Bay Zero Waste Week events. There will be a Clothes Swap hosted by NCRA, a resource fair, and more. In addition to our normal repairs we will be able to accept items in need of welding. Be sure to bring your Zero Waste Week Passport for a Reuse Alliance Stamp!
October 22 : Q4 Reuse Roundtable
Do you live in Santa Rosa? Join us at the Reuse Bazaar. It’s a giant swap! You can drop off bulky items for free and/or ‘shop’ the free items your neighbors have dropped off. We will also be providing demos and resources for how to give your items new life! More details at the link below.
October 22 : RE-X Before Recycling Prize : Phase II
Submissions for Phase II of the RE-X Before Recycling Prize are due on October 22nd. You do not have to have entered or won the first Phase to submit, but you can check out the winners on the site. Details below.
Reuse in the News
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection awarded more than $140,000 in grants to support “reusing, repairing, rescuing and donating”. See the list and marvel at how much good can be done with so little funding.
The California legislature passed SB 707 an exciting Textile EPR. Tell the governor to sign it!
Until we have Bookloop in the US there’s Alibris, AbeBooks, and Thriftbooks.
Reuse to Amuse
We love some park(ing) space reuse.
After you build your lego repair fair (someone, please?)…there’s re:play
In case you need some faith in the future.
In Praise of Maintenance. And maintainers.
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