Quick Start Your Buy Nothing Life
  • 1 - Set Your Viewing Radius
    • Tap on "Community" in the taskbar across the bottom of your screen
    • Tap on "change my viewing radius"
    • Tap on the distance that matches how far from your location you'd like to see posts and connect with your community
    • We highly recommend starting with the 20 mile radius
  • 2 - Personalize Your Profile
    • Tap on "Me" in the taskbar across the bottom of your screen
    • Tap on "Profile"
    • Tap on "Edit Profile"
    • Add a profile photo, your name, your neighborhood, and some info about yourself
    • Using your name, a photo, and information that your real life neighbors will recognize makes it much more likely that your Asks & Gives will be successful
  • 3 - Post an Ask or Give of Your Own
    • Tap the "Share +" button at the bottom center of your screen
    • Choose what you'd like to do:
    • Tap "Give" to offer an item or service
    • Tap "Ask" to request an item or service
    • Tap "Gratitude" to express your thanks for your BN neighbors and gifts
    • Tap "What..." to activate your keyboard and enter your words
    • Tap the gray camera icon in the bottom left hand to add photos to your post
    • Tap "post" to share your Give, Ask, or Gratitude with your BN community
  • 4 - Scroll & Search to See What's Happening
    • Tap "Home" in the bottom left hand corner of your screen
    • Tap the 4 gray squares in upper right hand corner of your screen to change to grid view for faster visual scrolling
    • Tap "Active" at the top of your screen to see only posts that are still in active status, with gifts waiting to be given or received
    • Tap "All" to see all of the posts in your viewing radius, including gifts that have already been given or received
    • Tap the gray magnifying glass icon at the top of your screen to open the search box
    • Tap the flashing cursor to activate your keyboard and enter the keyword(s) you'd like to look for
    • Tap the magnifying glass icon on your keyboard to activate your search
  • 5 - Comment to Connect
    • Comment on Gives that you'd like to receive or Asks that you'd like to fulfill; add a bit of personality to your comments for best results
    • There is no "first come, first served" rule in Buy Nothing, so ask kindly to be considered and check back often to see if you've been selected
    • You can also add encouraging comments or offer memories, stories, or reuse ideas that are sparked by the Gives and Asks that your neighbors share
  • 6 - Keep the BN Magic Growing
    • It only takes 1 person to spark the BN magic into action
    • You make a huge difference every time you post - Lead the way and other people will join in
    • Invite your friends, coworkers, and neighbors to join you by tapping the "Invite a friend" button on your Community page
    • Keep sharing Give, Ask & Gratitude posts
    • Visit buynothingproject.org/build for more ideas and support
    • Visit our BN Help Center at help.buynothingproject.org if you have questions or need assistance with your BN life
    • Thank you for bringing BN to life with us!

BN exists to build community - Thank you for joining us!