“I can’t remember the last time I took out
the trash. I understand I can do that, but not
everyone can go that far. The Buy Nothing
pages makes it easier and more accessible
to reduce waste. Every time you give away
something or receive something, you are
avoiding the landfill,” Rose said.
Just a few weeks after the LIC North/Astoria
South page came to fruition, Astoria Northwest
emerged at the hands of its admin, Gil
Lopez. Lopez has lived in western Queens
since 2011, residing in Woodside, LIC and
now, Astoria. In 2011, the Astorian helped establish
Smiling Hogshead Ranch, the LIC agriculture
farm and community garden — one of
the only places that accepted food scraps for
compost during the pandemic.
“Buy Nothing helps give people the option
to live a different way and at a level in which
they are comfortable with. I think it’s important
to empower people with an actual solution
28 MAY 2 0 2 1
instead of damning people with what
they’re doing wrong,” Lopez said.
Lopez lived in a local commune for a few
years and gets most of his belongings from
the trash and dumpster. The devout anti-capitalist
strongly believes in the community-driven
circular economy that Buy Nothing helps
neighbors access and partake in. The admin
asked, “If you’re not getting from the dumpsters,
why not get it from your community?”
“The things in your life, the money you
spend, the things you consume or produce,
the interactions you have, that’s what you can
change. There are broader levels and ways to
organize. Getting to know your neighbors is
step one of a functioning society,” Lopez said.
Currently, Lopez is searching for a co-admin
to assist him in running the Buy Nothing
page.
The @stoopinginqueens Instagram also
provides an alternative to buying new
things. Locals can submit photos of objects
they spot on stoops or streets as
they walk in their neighborhoods, and
@stoopinginqueens posts a photo of the
item with the cross streets listed in the caption.
Followers use the account to scout pieces
of furniture, clothes, books or whatever
they may need at the time.
“Stooping has always been there. Whether
you're an environmentalist or treasure hunter,
there have always been people who stoop. I
don’t know if it would have taken off like this if
it wasn’t for the pandemic, but a lot of people
are moving and leaving things out for the
taking,” said Jessica Wolff, the Astorian who
started and manages @stoopinginqueens.
Wolff created the page in the summer of
2019, but had been a passionate stooper
long before. When Wolff was a student at
the Fashion Institute of Technology, she
would dumpster dive around the college’s
EXPLORE YOUR BORO