Give or take
What are Give or Take days?
Hackney Council's Give or Take Days are a great way of getting rid of items that you don't need, and taking items you do. Simply turn up on the day with items that you want to give, or come along and take what you need. You don't have to give something to take something!
What sort of items can I give or take?
You can give or take just about anything: garden and household items like books and toys, bikes, tools, kitchenware, clothes, bric-a-brac, plants, furniture and small electrical items (please note that no large electric items like fridges or washing machines can be accepted, and all small electrical goods will be safety tested on the day).
When are Give or Take days held?
Give or take days are held by Hackney Council three times a year.
The next give or take day is Saturday 16 June, 11am to 3pm at Grazebrook Primary School, Lordship Road, N16 0QP.
If you are interested in receiving information regarding future give or take days, please contact us using the details at the top-right corner of this page. You may also wish to follow our 'Greener Hackney' pages on Facebook and Twitter, where we post details of Give and Take Days and other green/recycling events.
Useful exchange websites
Below you will find a list of useful websites where you can give or get home items, books and clothes for free.
General house and home items
- Freecycle: the Freecycle Network is a grassroots and entirely non-profit movement of people who are giving and getting stuff for free, thus keeping good stuff out of landfills. You can sign up to Hackney's local Freecycle group in order to start taking or giving items you looking for - see www.groups.yahoo.com/group/hackney_freecycle.
- Freegle: don't throw your goods away - give it away to someone that needs it! Visit the Hackney Freegle
page. - Garden Swap Shop: swap garden items such as seeds, tools and pots. See www.gardenswapshop.co.uk.
- Gum Tree: this well-known website has a section where people in London offer items for free for anyone to take. See www.gumtree.com/london/free-stuff.
- Scavenger: Creating a freely accessible inventory of all the surplus, unwanted and unused items. Add your item today at www.scavenger.ws.
- Swap Shop: swap your unwanted DVDs, digital memory cards, garden items and many more items for swap points which you can later exchange to get other goods offered online. See www.swapshop.co.uk.
- VSkip: upload your unwanted items in a virtual skip for other people to search and claim. See www.vskips.co.uk.
Books
Although books can be recycled, the best environmental option is to extend their life by swapping it with (or giving it to) someone else that may want to read it. Many charities across Hackney accept books, but if you would like to exchange yours with other people and save money try the sites listed below. Alternatively, you can borrow books from Hackney libraries.
- Read it Swap it: The Read it Swap it website lets you exchange your second hand books easily. See www.readitswapit.co.uk.
- Book Mooch: A similar service to Read it Swap it, where visitors can exchange second-hand books. See http://bookmooch.com/.
- Green Metropolis: a site where you can sell or buy second-hand books. See www.greenmetropolis.com.
Book exchange!
You can also host a book exchange with family or friends at a convenient place like your house.
- Tell each of your friends to bring a minimum of 5 books.
- Make sure they bring an assortment of fiction, non-fiction and reference.
- Serve a selection of drinks and appetizers before you begin.
- Give each guest a piece of paper that states how many books they brought.
Clothes
UK Consumers purchase 2.15 million tonnes of new clothing and shoes each year. Over 900,000 million items of clothing are thrown away each year and discarded clothing and shoes are typically sent to landfill. If you have got plenty of clothes that you don't use, visit the below websites to exchange your clothes with other people, or find new clothes for free.
- Covert Candy: The CovertCandy community is a platform for you to easily share and swap clothes with other stylish fashionistas. See www.covertcandy.co.uk.
- Swop2shop: a unique clothes shopping and swapping service where no money changes hands. See www.swop2shop.co.uk.
- Swishing: The art of swishing involves getting your friends together to swap gorgeous clothes and party at the time. Organise your own swishing clothes party - see www.swishing.org.
Page updated: 8 May 2012
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