LA HABRA, Calif. – There is a saying that one person’s trash is another person’s treasure and for La Habra resident Angela Young that saying is more than recycled it’s up-cycled.

Most of things she owns are things she has collected. Young is the administrator of the hyperlocal Facebook group Buy Nothing, a program where neighbors give and request items or services to their neighbors free of charge.

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“I had ‘couponed’ and got a good deal on these red wine vinegars. And so what I did was save them, and now they’re going to expire. I figured someone could use them for their Thanksgiving meal,” says Young.

Young demonstrates how you can request whatever you need or want. While Buy Nothing has been around for years, she started her La Habra East group after moving to the area a few years ago, looking for a way to meet her neighbors.

“With the Buy Nothing group it’s not like I can just go across the street and scare my neighbors by asking for a cup of sugar. I can say, ‘Hey we traded some girls pajamas,’ or, ‘Oh, you’re a teacher too,’ and so we exchange some standards,” she says.

What is unique about this virtual garage sale is that exchanging money is actually against the rules. You can “gift” something to a neighbor, but rather than go to a thrift store for instance, people can request things they actually need.

Neighbors are finding value in what they already have. Rather than spend green over the holiday weekend, they can save it and leave behind less to waste by “upcycling,” their goods.

“The group kind of just finds a way to give you what you need,” Young says.

No trash. Just treasure.