Quick Start Your Buy Nothing Life
1 - Install BuyNothing
- Find BuyNothing in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store
- Download to your smartphone or tablet
- Enter your neighborhood name to connect with your BN community
2 - 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
3 - 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
4 - Post a Give, Ask, or Gratitude
- 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
5 - Search & Comment to Connect
- 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
- 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
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!