Borrow Don't Buy Information

Borrow Don’t Buy Plymouth's Library of Things. A Library of Things is a place where you can borrow items that you need to use, but might not need to own. We have a diverse inventory with items from camping equipment to power tools, DIY tools, and craft equipment. We want to help our members and everyone in Plymouth save money, reduce clutter, and reduce our carbon footprint while strengthening our community. Most importantly, by sharing more items within our community we increase our resilience and wellbeing. Our mission is for everyone to have access to the stuff they need, without it costing the earth. We have loads of resources, knowledge, and skills in Plymouth, we just need to share them more. A Library of Things is a place to bring people together and encourage everyone to do so. We have over 700 items and almost 2000 members. Our small dedicated team of volunteers has volunteered over 2,000 hours to set up and run Borrow Don't Buy. We have completed over 4000 loans already and over 80% of our inventory are items donated by our community. We do have a hierarchy of acquisition when we need to add items to our inventory. If we need to buy something, we check for good-quality second-hand local items. This way we reinvest in our community. If for safety reasons, we have to buy new items (such as specific power tools) we buy from good quality brands that provide spares and are easily fixable. Our top 5 borrowed items are related to home improvements (carpet cleaner, pressure washer, drills, sanders, strimmer). By providing affordable access to tools to improve our homes, we will have a direct impact on a household’s wellbeing as well. A Library of Things is a creative tool to fight climate change and rebuild our sense of community.