Ithaca’s hyperlocal gift economy groups on Facebook grew out of conversations within our community. We run these groups to strengthen community connections through gifting and reuse, keeping usable items in circulation locally and out of the waste stream.
Here are the four active Gifting with Integrity (GWI) groups in our area:
If you’d like to join, please submit a request and answer all three membership questions. Each person may join only one group at a time.
A map showing each group’s coverage area is included below. Please choose the one area you belong to and send a join request
Volunteer admins wanted
We are looking for volunteer co-admins for existing Buy Nothing groups and new admins for Enfield, Ulysses, Dryden, Caroline, and Groton.
Admining a Gifting with Integrity group is rewarding work, but it only works when admins are aligned with its framework and guidelines.
What this means in practice:
- We stay hyperlocal by design, including keeping groups small enough to stay neighbor-focused rather than “stuff exchange” focused.
- We start preparing for a sprout when membership reaches 1,000. This is non-negotiable.
- New groups often take time to gain momentum. It can be a slow curve, and some turbulence is normal after sprouting.
- If you want a new group to become active sooner, it takes outreach. Posting occasionally is fine, but stronger activity usually requires intentional recruiting by admins and members (neighborhood listservs, community boards, local groups, word of mouth).
- We are committed to the model or format of Buy Nothing/GWI groups.
If you understand and accept this structure, and you want to help build a truly hyperlocal gift economy, please reach out to us at info@zerowasteithaca.org
About Our Gifting with Integrity Groups
Our Gifting with Integrity groups follow the original principles of the gift economy movement and are part of the global volunteer network Gifting with Integrity. This network provides essential admin training and support for Facebook-based Buy Nothing groups.
Despite the well-documented problems with a tech giant like Facebook, it remains the dominant public square of our time, and Buy Nothing groups thrive on this platform. We wish Facebook were a public utility.
Gifting with Integrity groups are volunteer-run, community-led Facebook groups and operate independently from Buy Nothing Project. The Buy Nothing Project registered trademarks in 2022 and has since focused on developing its proprietary app platform. In 2025, multiple Facebook-based groups using the “Buy Nothing” name were removed following trademark enforcement actions, as reported by the San Francisco Standard and Wired. Our Facebook-based groups are community-run, volunteer-led, and independent of any proprietary app platform.
This Ithaca-area network grew out of a discussion in the Zero Waste Ithaca (ZWI) Facebook group, where neighbors wanted a simple, volunteer-run way to keep usable goods in circulation locally. Yayoi K. created the original Ithaca-area Buy Nothing group in September 2019. Maggie M. joined as co-admin in August 2020, followed by additional volunteer admins. The original Ithaca group sprouted on January 31, 2022 into four new groups: West Ithaca; South Hill/Danby/Downtown; East Ithaca; and Lansing. On February 14, 2025, the East Ithaca group sprouted into two new groups: Cayuga Heights/East Hill and Downtown/South Hill. As of March 2026, our active Ithaca-area groups are Downtown/South Hill Ithaca, NY; West Ithaca, NY; Lansing, NY; and Danby/Newfield/South Hill, NY. The current Cayuga Heights/East Hill Facebook group is no longer listed here because it is not operating as part of our local network. A new Cayuga Heights/East Hill group may be reestablished under local stewardship. Historic volunteer admins who have helped steward these groups include Yayoi K., Maggie M., Sam M., Michelle W., Le Z., Virgilio P., Stephanie M., Margaret S., Molly R., and Lin K. (Names abbreviated for privacy.)
Updated: March 24, 2026