by Robin Spano

Every year, for one weekend in May, the village where I live turns into a treasure trove of used items just waiting for new homes.

The event is Giveaway Weekend. It’s like a village wide garage sale where everything is free. We all put out the things we no longer use, and then we go around collecting new things that we never knew we always wanted.

I love this event on so many levels.

In a world filled with excess, this weekend is the antidote to overconsumption.

It’s mindful decluttering. We sift through our homes for things we’re no longer using. Last night, my daughter and I had a great time going through all our board games, playing them in turn to see which ones we wanted to keep and which could go.

It’s thrifting on steroids. The joy of the find is real, especially for kids, but each year, I end up with a surprise gift of my own. (Last year, it was some beautiful glass party trays.)

It’s also community-building, a weekend when people take walks and trade stories about the sporting goods or baby stuff they just scored.

Our local event was founded by Heather Hood, who grew up in Winnipeg, where they do two city-wide giveaway weekends a year. When her kids were younger and she was on the event’s committee, she used to run the village Garage Sale at the community hall. “I would see people lug all this old stuff inside and go to so much effort and barely make any money.” So she put the two concepts together into what’s now one of Lions Bay’s favourite events of the year.

You Can Set This Up Anywhere

As Heather says, “It’s very easy to organize!”

If it works in Winnipeg (a huge city) and Lions Bay (a tiny village), it can work in your community, too. You might want to start with just your block, and expand it as word of mouth makes other blocks want to participate. Or you can go big and get your whole city or town or neighborhood on board from the get-go.

Step 1: Aim For Good Weather

We’ve had giveaway weekends in the rain in our town, and the hard core “shoppers” are still out in full force.

“It’s not as successful when it’s a rainy weekend,” says Heather, “but I’ve seen people get very creative with clear tarps, tents, etc.”

You obviously can’t know what the weather will be a few weeks out, but May is a good month, because it still carries the spring cleaning energy without as much rain chance as April. Summer dates also work well — your kids can even set up lemonade stands for the “shoppers.”

Step 2: Choose Your Weekend

Consider your neighborhood. Do most people stick around for long weekends? In that case, a holiday weekend can be awesome, because you can add an extra day to the fun. But if lots of people skip town for long weekends, maybe best to stick to the 2-day weekends.

My favourite is the longer weekends. I put out what I can on the first day, then spend the weekend rummaging inside my garage and closets and continue to add stuff to my driveway until the last minute. But some of our neighbors go away for long weekends, so Heather tends to switch it up, based on Mother’s Day, the long weekend, and her own schedule — because she loves this weekend too, and wants to be around for it!

Step 3: Spread the Word

Get the buzz going with enough time for people to collect items they no longer need—think clothes, toys, kitchen gadgets, and more. Use local social media groups, flyers, or old style word of mouth to let everyone know about the event.

In Lions Bay, Heather posts in our village email-bulletin, our community Facebook pages, and she puts up a few handmade posters the week before. “I don’t have a ton of extra time these days to do much more than that,” she says, but now that it’s been ongoing for a few years, “it kind of runs itself.”

Step 4: The Giveaway!

On the day of the event, you can keep it simple — just the goods, please — or you can set a block party mood, with music, snacks, or even outdoor games for the kids.

Our village keeps it simple — the party is alive in the people walking the streets. As Heather says, “I honestly didn’t realize what a community building, social event it would become. It brings people together as they chat with neighbors, meet new villagers, and explore all the parts of our amazing little village walking, driving and biking around over the weekend. I love seeing little kids bring home a bunch more stuff for their parents too, like Mother’s Day gifts.”

Ha. My favorite part is definitely not in all the extra things my daughter brings home. But I do love how much she loves it, and from a very young age she declared this, “my favourite holiday of the year.”

During the event, our Facebook community pages are also active with people posting about new stuff we’ve added since the giveaway got underway. (Especially people like me who aren’t organized enough to have it all ready and curbside at 9 a.m. Saturday morning.)

Step 5: Recycle the Leftovers

At the end of the weekend, see if you can find a local volunteer to collect the treasures that haven’t found homes to recycle or donate to local charities, keeping with the circular economy spirit.

Our giveaway weekend is way too big for one person with a pickup truck — so Heather encourages people to make the donation runs themselves.

The Bigger Picture

Giveaway Weekend is a shining example of outside the box thinking having a positive impact on the planet.

We know that our world is on a collision course with climate change. We know that if we stay on our current path without changing our methods and mindsets, we won’t win.

Overconsumption by first world countries is a big part of that. It causes carbon emissions in resource extraction, production, and shipping. And it results in excessive waste, as discarded items fill landfills and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

What we need to shift the balance is exactly this kind of innovative thinking. Heather saw a problem, had an idea, and brought it to life in a way that’s fun for us all. On the surface, it keeps some things out of the landfill, which is great. But the broader scope is that she’s got us all actively becoming part of the solution along with her — and as we act, we change our habits…one sustainable step at a time.

When I asked her if there were drawbacks, she said, “I think it’s a win all around. Keeps unwanted items out of landfills. It’s the perfect example of reuse and recycle (maybe not reduce in some peoples cases!).”

My sustainable step for this weekend is to get rid of as much clutter as I can into the homes of my neighbors, and hope that more leaves my driveway than my daughter brings back into my house!