The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan: Discover the Joy of Spending Less, Sharing More, and Living Generously

Written by Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller

Narrated by Jayme Mattler

In the spirit of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning and The Joy of Less, experience the benefits of buying less and sharing more with this accessible 7-step guide to decluttering, saving money, and creating community from the creators of the Buy Nothing Project.

In their island community, friends Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller discovered that the beaches of Puget Sound were spoiled by a daily influx of plastic items and trash washing on shore. From pens and toothbrushes to toys and straws, they wondered, where did it all come from? Of course, it comes from us—our homes, our backyards, our cars, and our workplaces. And so, a rallying cry against excess stuff was born.

In 2013, they launched the first Facebook Buy Nothing Project group in their small town off the coast of Seattle, and they never expected it to become a viral sensation. Today there are thousands of Buy Nothing groups all over the world, boasting more than a million members, and 5,000 highly active volunteers.

Inspired by the ancient practice of gift economies, where neighbors share and pool resources,The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan introduces an environmentally conscious 7-step guide that teaches us how to buy less, give more, and live generously. At once an actionable plan and a thought-provoking exploration of our addiction to stuff, this powerful program will help you declutter your home without filling landfills, shop more thoughtfully and discerningly, and let go of the need to buy new things. Filled with helpful lists and practical suggestions including 50 items you never need to buy (Ziploc bags and paper towels) and 50 things to make instead (gift cards and salad dressing), The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan encourages you to rethink why you shop and embrace a space-saving, money-saving, and earth-saving mindset of buying less and sharing more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Apr 14, 2020
• ISBN: 9781797106786

Liesl Clark

Liesl Clark is an award-winning filmmaker and cofounder of the Buy Nothing Project. She has traveled the globe writing, directing, and filming many of the world’s most remote places. For the past two decades, Liesl has filmed for National Geographic and NOVA, covering science stories in extreme locations. By using her storytelling and photography, Liesl’s cofounding of the Buy Nothing Project has initiated a social movement necessary to bring about change and a positive impact on our homes and the environment.

Reviews for The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan

[Dean Trotter · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good manifesto for waste reduction and sustainability, sometimes repetitive though

[vilrodriguez1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a great book. How to live earth conscious, help your mental health with less stuff, and most importantly live in a world of giving.

[Sarah · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It felt like a long book that could have been way less chapters. Had some basic ideas nothing new.

[Tacitus Lector · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Highly recommended. It touches on most aspects of consumerism, appealing to anyone who might want to buy less for whatever the reason; environmental, financial, hoarding, etc.

[sgtcat · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like the idea that is being presented here. It promotes a lot of things that I think are important and that I think are missing from society, like having strong, local social networks and learning to break away from a consumerist mentality to start appreciating and finding satisfaction in what we already have.

The one thing that could be improved is the structure of the book. The long lists in each chapter become a bit tedious. I believe it was presented that way to be as direct and understandable as possible to as wide an audience as possible, but it made it sort of a slog to get through.

I really enjoyed the first-hand accounts that broke up the monotony. I wonder if it was less interesting to me because I'd heard most of this before from a variety of other sources.

Regardless, it was an interesting book to read. I wonder how this would work in communities that aren't already close-knit? I suppose I'd have to go looking on Facebook for more information in their groups, but I don't really care for Facebook.