Well, hello there and welcome back. My name is Stephanie Safarian and you are listening to

episode 133 of the Sustainable Minimalist Podcast.

Imagine a world in which you can buy very, very little. Sounds crazy, right? Sounds

like a pipe dream. This world already exists and its wonder comes to us in the form of the gift economy.

A gift economy is one that focuses on relationships, not personal gain, and not profit.

Gift economies have been around since the beginning of humans,

but in more recent centuries, gift economies have been replaced with market ones, at least here in the United States.

And while market economies tend to be quite impersonal. Gift economies foster social bonds and trust.

There are plenty of environmental benefits to gift economies too.

The most notable of course is that they prevent new items

from entering the waste stream while also diverting

perfectly usable items

my guest today is Jennifer Lansdowne. Jennifer is on the show to discuss the ins and outs of gifting economies

while also discussing her extensive volunteer experience with perhaps the most

well-known gifting platform of all, the Buy Nothing project.

Enjoy the interview.

Jennifer, thank you so much for coming on the show

to talk all about gift economies.

How are you doing? I'm doing great. It's so weird to hear you in person

instead of just on my podcast. You know, everybody says that. You're not the first person to say that

it's really weird to hear me on the

podcast and then talk to me in real life but before we even talk about your

...