swap party
Parties are generally pretty awesome things, but swap parties are totally awesome.
Get 6 to 10 of your coolest friends together, have everyone bring good quality household or gifty items they already have but no longer want or use, lay them all out with a nice little spread to nosh and let the swapping begin.
Re-use your items and get new-to-you items. Spend $0. Have a great time with friends. Awesome. Awesome. And awesome.
Want more of a how-to? Try the Real Simple way, or the Planet Ark way.
Thank you for reminding me of this great way of recycling things. My friends and I did this many years ago on a semi-annual basis but we somehow just got distracted and our activity dwindled down to nothing. We had so much fun and in fact always included a “soup exchange” where everyone made their favorite soup to share. We also did a salsa and pasta exchange. Everything was homemade. Good times and good eats! And, cool “new” stuff!