At The Buy Nothing Project, our mission is at the heart of everything we do: We exist to renew the relational fabric of communities through abundance, trust, and genuine connection — by enabling neighbours and communities to give, receive, share, and express gratitude in a hyper-local gift economy where real wealth is found in human connection. In fewer words: Our mission is to change the way the world consumes.
We believe that the more people and communities participate in our mission, the stronger our mission becomes. With the explosive growth of Buy Nothing communities around the world, it has been important to ensure a consistent and understood gifting experience across the more than 8,000 groups currently active on Meta. We have three clear criteria for groups to participate: they must be a true gift economy, link to our official website, and register with us.
We Welcome All Buy Nothing Groups!
We know there are many Buy Nothing groups on Meta with varying rules and iterations. We welcome them all, so long as they are a gift community and they link back to The Buy Nothing Project website.
We strongly encourage all Meta gift communities that call themselves "Buy Nothing" and do not currently link back to our website to join us! Come register your group with us and get support for your admin team and your participants while using the Buy Nothing name and resources to continue to build your gift economy. We would love to welcome you to the official Buy Nothing family.
When you join the Buy Nothing brand, there's an expectation of what happens in our communities. This is why it's important that all Buy Nothing gift communities link back to our website, are registered with us, and are gift communities — not buy-sell-trade groups or barter groups. This consistency ensures that every participant understands the core values of giving freely and widely, fostering genuine community connection, and reducing waste.
If you are a member of a Meta Buy Nothing group and notice that the group (in their About section or Rules) does not link back to The Buy Nothing Project website, please consider sharing this blog post with your Buy Nothing admin. We genuinely welcome your group to join us and become part of our official network. If the admin does not link up with us and continues to use our name, you are welcome to let us know. We will then review the group and try to reach out to the admin directly.
Maintaining a Trusted Member Experience
In 2021, we took a crucial step to safeguard this mission and ensure its integrity for everyone: We trademarked our name.
Trademarking our name isn't about exclusivity; it's about protection and clarity. We trademarked "Buy Nothing" to ensure that The Buy Nothing Project's intellectual property—our core guidelines, our philosophy of hyper-local gift economies, and the very essence of what we stand for—remains accessible to as many people as possible, while staying true to our core vision.
This legal step allows us to:
Addressing Misuse and Ensuring Consistency
Unfortunately, when individuals or groups use our Buy Nothing name without adhering to our principles or linking back to our official website, it can create confusion and dilute the true meaning of the movement.
This is why we have had to, and will continue to, work with Meta to shut down groups that do not meet the following criteria:
This proactive approach, utilizing Meta's Brand Rights Protection Program, allows brands like ours to identify and report content for counterfeit, trademark, and copyright infringement and business impersonation across all Meta technologies. Any group that simply changes its name, yet continues to use our intellectual property or permutations of it, will also be removed by Meta via this program. This is a necessary step to ensure that the spirit and rules of Buy Nothing are upheld.
Together, we're building a global movement rooted in generosity and community. Every registered group and every shared item strengthens our collective vision for a more sustainable and connected world. Thank you for being a vital part of the Buy Nothing family!
The Buy Nothing Project Volunteer Team
We believe that the more people and communities participate in our mission, the stronger our mission becomes. With the explosive growth of Buy Nothing communities around the world, it has been important to ensure a consistent and understood gifting experience across the more than 8,000 groups currently active on Meta. We have three clear criteria for groups to participate: they must be a true gift economy, link to our official website, and register with us.
We Welcome All Buy Nothing Groups!
We know there are many Buy Nothing groups on Meta with varying rules and iterations. We welcome them all, so long as they are a gift community and they link back to The Buy Nothing Project website.
We strongly encourage all Meta gift communities that call themselves "Buy Nothing" and do not currently link back to our website to join us! Come register your group with us and get support for your admin team and your participants while using the Buy Nothing name and resources to continue to build your gift economy. We would love to welcome you to the official Buy Nothing family.
When you join the Buy Nothing brand, there's an expectation of what happens in our communities. This is why it's important that all Buy Nothing gift communities link back to our website, are registered with us, and are gift communities — not buy-sell-trade groups or barter groups. This consistency ensures that every participant understands the core values of giving freely and widely, fostering genuine community connection, and reducing waste.
If you are a member of a Meta Buy Nothing group and notice that the group (in their About section or Rules) does not link back to The Buy Nothing Project website, please consider sharing this blog post with your Buy Nothing admin. We genuinely welcome your group to join us and become part of our official network. If the admin does not link up with us and continues to use our name, you are welcome to let us know. We will then review the group and try to reach out to the admin directly.
Maintaining a Trusted Member Experience
In 2021, we took a crucial step to safeguard this mission and ensure its integrity for everyone: We trademarked our name.
Trademarking our name isn't about exclusivity; it's about protection and clarity. We trademarked "Buy Nothing" to ensure that The Buy Nothing Project's intellectual property—our core guidelines, our philosophy of hyper-local gift economies, and the very essence of what we stand for—remains accessible to as many people as possible, while staying true to our core vision.
This legal step allows us to:
- Protect our Mission: It ensures that the "Buy Nothing" name is consistently associated with genuine gift communities where there is no selling, trading, or bartering. This prevents dilution of our core values and keeps the movement focused on pure gifting.
- Maintain Brand Integrity: Just as any brand protects its identity, we must protect ours. Our trademark helps us ensure that when someone encounters "Buy Nothing," they know it represents a specific, ethical, and community-driven approach to consumption.
- Fulfill Legal Responsibility: As the creators and stewards of The Buy Nothing Project, we have a legal responsibility to protect our intellectual property. This includes enforcing our trademark to prevent misuse or misrepresentation that could confuse our community members or undermine our efforts.
- Support All Official Groups: We are an incubator of local gift communities. We provide support for all official Buy Nothing gift communities, their admins, and their members. By linking back to our website, these groups receive the benefit of consistent guidelines, resources, and a connection to the broader movement. We also list and map all registered and official Buy Nothing communities on our platform, our web and mobile app, making each private gifting community accessible and discoverable. Our platform also hosts 1.5 million neighbors who participate outside of private groups on Meta. The BuyNothing web and mobile app is the home of Buy Nothing, where our team is building a custom gifting platform – offering a better, more secure, and more impactful experience that aligns with our core mission.
Addressing Misuse and Ensuring Consistency
Unfortunately, when individuals or groups use our Buy Nothing name without adhering to our principles or linking back to our official website, it can create confusion and dilute the true meaning of the movement.
This is why we have had to, and will continue to, work with Meta to shut down groups that do not meet the following criteria:
- Link back to our website.
- Be an actual gift economy (i.e., they do not allow selling, trading, or bartering).
- Register with The Buy Nothing Project so we can include them on our official map and list, making them accessible to community members.
This proactive approach, utilizing Meta's Brand Rights Protection Program, allows brands like ours to identify and report content for counterfeit, trademark, and copyright infringement and business impersonation across all Meta technologies. Any group that simply changes its name, yet continues to use our intellectual property or permutations of it, will also be removed by Meta via this program. This is a necessary step to ensure that the spirit and rules of Buy Nothing are upheld.
Together, we're building a global movement rooted in generosity and community. Every registered group and every shared item strengthens our collective vision for a more sustainable and connected world. Thank you for being a vital part of the Buy Nothing family!
The Buy Nothing Project Volunteer Team