Saw something smart at a little diner off Route 9 last weekend

They had a swap board right by the counter where people could leave a half-used bag of flour or a jar of pickles and take something else for free. Has anyone else tried setting up a community swap shelf like that at their local spot?

3 comments

3 Comments

milaw1419d ago

Oh man, that's genius but I'd be worried somebody would just grab the expensive stuff and leave nothing but expired crackers. Still beats paying for a whole bag of flour when you only need a cup though.

kim_johnson5119d ago

@milaw14 yeah exactly what I was thinking at first but I tried it at my local coop and it actually worked out. People around here are pretty good about leaving the pricier stuff alone. I did the same thing with spices since I didn't want to drop $8 on a jar of cumin I'd use once. Just took a little ziplock and filled it up.

danielkim19d ago

Wow, I gotta say I see it completely different though. The whole point of a community pantry is that people are supposed to take what they need and leave what they can, you know? If someone's actually grabbing all the good stuff and leaving nothing, that's a trust issue with the system itself, not with the idea of buying in bulk. I feel like we're so used to stores treating us like potential thieves that we forget most people are actually decent. The expired crackers thing is a fair point but honestly, who's really gonna steal a random bag of chia seeds when they could just grab a box of pasta instead? Plus the waste reduction angle is huge, I hate seeing half-empty bags of flour go stale in my cabinet.

-1