Community Sharing Directory: Initiatives In Australia & The Rest Of The World
Welcome to our directory of sharing and repairing projects in Australia and the rest of the world! We’ve mapped or listed links to a map of all of the participants in all of the sharing movements and initiatives we know about. Looking to share or to get something repaired? Discover and get involved in your local sharing economy or get inspired to get a community project going!
Some sharing movements and initiatives already have maps that show those participating. We have not added those to our map above, but instead have provided links to where they are listed or mapped - you’ll find these below. This is why some aren’t included on our map. Another reason why something might not be there is because we don’t know about it!
Please let us know in the comments or by emailing us of any sharing systems we should include in our list or on the map or if any are obsolete. We apologise for any incorrect information! It’s hard to keep with new projects and changes, so your help with this to make this map as comprehensible as possible and to keep this map as up to date as possible would be greatly appreciated.
This map isn’t comprehensive and all-encompassing and unofficial community sharing initiatives are inconsistent by nature, mostly being run by individuals or volunteers, but hopefully it will enable some people to discover a project in their neighbourhood they knew nothing about and inspire some people to start a similar sharing initiative in their community.
Happy sharing Australia!
And, all the other countries in the world! We’ve also included links to some sharing networks in other countries below. A lot are worldwide movements and all can be implemented anywhere.
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Community Party Kits to Hire
Party Kits contain everything you’ll need to throw a kids party. Instead of using single-use, borrow a local party kit, which will get reused over and over again.
The Party Kit Network has maps of party kits for hire. It also tells you all you’ll need to know about starting your own party kit to share in your neighbourhood.
There are also groups that make fabric bunting that can be hired or borrowed and used for parties and events instead of environmentally disastrous single-use decorations like balloons! A lot of Boomerang Bags groups are now doing this as well as their reusable shopping bags. You’ll find Australian bunting libraries on our map above.
For larger events and markets, reusable plates and bowls and washing up services like Wash Against Waste, Mullum Cares’s Waste Free Catering, and Green My Plate can be used to achieve zero waste catering.
Little Libraries for Book Swapping
You can find a Little Library near you using the world map of Little Free Libraries or just keep your eyes peeled and take different routes when walking around your neighbourhood - you’ll probably stumble across one. Leave a book you’ve read for others to enjoy and take a new book for yourself!
Another way to share books with your community is by donating locally to worthy organisations like Books Through Bars and Kids Need To Read. If you’re in the US, you can use In The Book’s Book Donation Map of America to easily find an organisation near you to donate books to.
Kitchen Libraries for Lending Implements & Appliances
A library but for kitchen implements! From cookie cutters to ice cream machines, some kitchen libraries have a huge range of appliances and kitchenware, while some stick to one thing like cake tins.
You’ll find Australia’s current kitchen libraries on the map above.
Reusable Cup Exchange Systems & Cup Libraries for No Throwaway Coffee Cups
Keep forgetting your keep cup? Find having to carry your own forever coffee cup inconvenient? Then one of these shared reusable coffee cup schemes are for you!
Some are membership based, some are deposit based, some use branded bought cups and some use rescued mugs. Find a local cafe that has a system that suits you, or ask your favourite cafe to join one.
Exchange/swap and go systems:
Cup Exchange - reusing and recycling old cups for cup libraries (map, mostly AU, some US)
Returnr - request your coffee in a RETURNR, pay deposit with cost of coffee, rinse then return to any cafe in the network to have your deposit refunded (AU)
Green Caffeen - download the app, get a free cup and drop it back at any participating café within 30 days (map, mostly AU, some US/Europe)
Globelet - reusable tumblers, stemless wine glasses, coffee cups, and reusable water bottles to rent or buy for stadiums and arenas, shopping centres and offices, and events, festivals and venues (AU, NZ and US)
Wangim - a Darebin City Council and Darebin Zero Waste Business Network zero-waste, reusable coffee cup initiative (where available, Darebin, VIC)
Noa and Parker - elegant, locally made ceramic cups that members can borrow from cafés (Melbourne and Sydney)
You can find cafes that are responsible and try to be sustainable in Australia on Responsible Cafes and ones in New Zealand on UYO (Use Your Own). You can search for cafes with cup libraries and swap systemsif you don’t have your own reusable coffee cup on hand.
Reusable Container Swap & Go Systems for No Single Use Takeaway Containers
Not only for cups, there are also swap and go systems for reusable containers so you can take away your meal without any added trash. Some restaurants and cafes have their own system in place, while some join a network, and there are also companies that offer reusable food serving services at events.
Individual swap and go systems:
Moroccan Soup Bar - get a meal and a container on your first purchase and then bring it back to be refilled (Fitzroy North, VIC, AU)
Gina's Kitchen - take-away meals from a home kitchen in reusable packaging (Flemington, VIC, AU)
Taxiboat - pay for takeaway in glass containers that you can keep reusing and bringing back for more (Northcote, VIC, AU)
Wash Against Waste - reusable plates and bowls and washing up services at events (VIC, AU)
Green My Plate - supply reusable, light-weight, plates, bowls and cutlery as well as wash stations, staff and compost bins to events, schools, businesses and anyone else needing reusables (AU)
Mullum Cares’s Waste Free Catering - system design, promotional materials and all the physical assets required are provided to pull off waste-free catering (NSW, AU)
Networks of swap and go systems:
Returnr - request your food in a RETURNR, pay deposit with cost of meal, rinse then return to any cafe in the network to have your deposit refunded (map, AU)
Retub’s Reswap - a container exchange program that is built-in to the Retub design (map, AU)
Noa and Parker - members can order takeaway food and get it delivered for free in a borrowed metal containers, which is also picked up for free (map, Melbourne and Sydney)
Little Free Pantry, Food Is Free & Other Food Sharing Projects for Excess Produce & Food Justice
Little Free Pantries and Food is Free tables are ways of sharing food in a community. Food is placed in a little cupboard somewhere where anyone can access it anytime with a sign saying “Give What You Can; Take What You Need” or on a structure or table outside a house, business or community building with the words “Food is Free” on it. Grow Free carts are similar to Food is Free, a place where people can share surplus food and seeds.
Both worldwide movements, the Food is Free Project grew from people growing and sharing food freely and Little Free Pantries were started to help overcome food insecurity. You can learn more about them, see examples and find out how to make one for your community on their websites.
There is a worldwide map of Food is Free chapters, but it is not a very comprehensive map. I have come across many that are not on there. I have added the ones I know of on our sharing map. These are generally not actual locations, but the name of the chapter in that area, which is usually run via a Facebook page.
And, you’ll find a worldwide map of Little Free Pantries here (mostly US so we’ve added AU ones to our map) and a good map of Grow Free carts here (so we haven’t added these to our map, mostly AU, some US).
The Pātaka Movement sprung up as a new free food pantry project in Melbourne during lockdown. It is an offshoot of the New Zealand Pātaka Kai Open Street Pantry Movement, which is mapped here.
Food Swaps for Less Food Waste & More Variety
Swap produce you’ve grown with other home growers in your area! This way everyone gets a bit of something and no one has too much of something, so less food goes to waste. Seeds are often swapped too, as well as homemade food items like jams and chutneys.
Find a local food swap in Australia via Crop Swap Australia or, more specifically, in North East Melbourne, Australia here and in the US and Europe via the Food Swap Network. They are often organised by neighbourhood houses or community houses, libraries or a local Transition Streets group – you can find Australian ones here and ones in the US here. There are too many to add to our map!
Homemade meals can also be swapped! An example of a network sharing already made meals is MamaBake, which is a group for big batch cooking for mothers. Mums get together regularly to group, big batch cook. Each brings one big meal, they divide it up among them and go home with a number of meals cooked for the week!
Other Online & Neighbourhood Food Sharing Initiatives
There are heaps of other ways to share food online these days, with lots of apps dedicated to this being developed over the past few years and numerous Facebook groups dedicated to sharing food. These are generally focused on a specific area to keep things local and so you can find food for free or to swop for near you. Examples are:
Olio - a free worldwide app fighting food waste that helps people to give away food to their neighbours
Freegan and bin diving Facebook groups (search FB for a local one) - people share food they have saved from landfill with the community
Ripe Near Me - website for finding or sharing excess homegrown produce in your town (some free, some you have to pay for) (worldwide but mostly AU, US and Europe)
Offline and in real life, keep an eye out for edible landscaping and community planter boxes and gardens, where you can help yourself to food straight from the ground (make sure you are allowed to help yourself! There will usually be a sign explaining things. Some require you to help out at the garden to share the spoils). Examples are:
Incredible Edible - edible landscaping and shared community food planter boxes (find a local group here, UK only, although we have found one in Australia: Incredible Edible Eltham)
Community gardens (map of community gardens and planter boxes in North East Melbourne here)
Seed Libraries for Seed Saving & Swapping
Little libraries but for seeds! Seeds are placed in little envelopes, labelled with what they are and when they were saved, and placed in little boxes for people to take from and add to. Find a local seed library on our map above.
Another seed saving movement is the Seed Saver’s Network, which is an Australian not-for-profit organisation that saves locally adapted seeds to “conserve, in culture, seeds of traditional varieties of plants for food and other uses”. You’ll find a list and map of Seed Savers all over Australia here. You can find information on how to start a group that collects, uses and distributes locally adapted seeds and other planting material on Seed Saver’s website.
For online seed swapping, Facebook group Seed Swap Australia is a large community of seed swappers.
Tool Libraries So You Can Borrow Not Buy
No need to buy a new tool for one job or store one for chores you only need to do every so often if you can borrow one from a tool library!
These are growing rapidly around Australia and encompass a large collection of tools from gardening tools to workshop tools. Some also have camping gear, musical instruments, and sports gear in their inventories. Find one near you on our map.
A good example is Brunswick Tool Library. This tool library works closely with Maker Community Inc, a makerspace providing tools and education to the community. It has workshops that teach DIY skills has a fully equipped woodworking space, 3D Printers, a CNC router, soldering stations, electronics, RC gear and other tools for use by the community.
You can also hire equipment near you from online local hiring sites like:
The Equipment Library - which specialises in hiking and camping hire equipment (AU)
Checkout My Shed - peer-to-peer lending of household and hobby items that enables people to earn money from things they own or borrow something quickly from their neighbour (AU)
There is an international map of tool libraries here (mostly US and Europe, some AU, NZ, Africa, and Asia).
Toy Libraries for Loaning Fun & Returning When Done
New exciting toys without them overtaking your home! Toys are loaned and returned just like books. The toys that can be borrowed range from educational toys, baby gyms and activity tables, puppets, board games and puzzles, to balance bikes, scooters and kids cars, with all ages being catered for.
Find a toy library in Australia by using Toy Library Australia’s map: www.toylibraries.org.au/find-a-toy-library. The website also shares how to start a toy library.
The International Toy Library Association has a list of continental toy library groups here, and the USA Toy Library Association has a directory that lists toy library locations in the US here.
Clothes Swaps for a New Wardrobe Without Buying New
Unlike second hand stores, where you simply drop off clothing to be sold, and consignment stores, which generally only pass on a portion of the money made from selling your second hand clothes once they are sold, clothing exchange stores like SWOP Clothing Exchange, which has stores in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, give you store credit for the clothing you pass on to be sold in store.
These are sometimes a better option as only around 14% of donations to op shops are sold, and they have to pay to dispose of clothing that doesn’t sell in a few weeks due to space issues. Swapping makes sure your clothes end up with someone who wants and will wear them instead of potentially ending up in landfill.
It is still important to support second hand stores, but this provides another avenue for pre-loved clothes so that they are not overwhelmed.
Clothes swap events are a super fun clothes swapping option. These are usually a general exchange rather then a direct swap, with all clothes that have been brought on the day being laid out and those participating being able to look through and choose from all of them. Look for a clothes swapping event near you organised by a clothes swap event organiser. Examples are:
The Relove Movement (Sydney, AU)
The Clothing Exchange (Melbourne and Sydney, AU)
Or swap shop online via:
The Re: Club (Australia-wide)
Good Karma Networks & Buy Nothing Groups for Second-Hand Giving & Finding
You’ll find pretty much everything and anything being shared in Good Karma Networks and Buy Nothing Groups! Good Karma Networks create a local network for sharing things, as well as information and advice, and for giving and getting. Ask for what you need and someone should be able to help you out!
The Buy Nothing Project is focused on creating a gift economy that develops a web of connections that support people in a community. It is more about passing on things for free or finding things for free than sharing, but it does mean something you have that you don’t use can be given to someone who needs it, therefore it is a way of sharing resources rather than hoarding them and others having to buy one themselves.
You can find your town or suburb’s Good Karma Network here (Australia) and a local Buy Nothing Group here (worldwide).
For a good example of materials and skills being shared locally around a community for use instead of being wasted check out Local Food Connect’s list of useful reusable local resources in North East Melbourne.
Really Really Free Markets take this concept into the real world, with the community gathering in real life to give and take what they need. They are markets where everything is free due to the community sharing resources and abundance. They promote sharing, connection, reuse, and recycling, and enable neighbours to meet in person and swop items as well as stories.
You can find Really Really Free Markets all over the world, but they are mainly in the US and Canada (this Wikipedia article has an incomplete list). We have marked the ones in Australia on our map (read more about our local one, the Preston one here).
Repair Cafes, Fixit Clinics & Mending Meetups for Fixing Not Replacing
Before recycling anything that is broken or worn, ask yourself if it could be repaired or mended. If you don’t have the skills to mend it yourself, you can take it to a Repair Cafe, where volunteers with the know-how will get it as-new again. Repair Cafe’s website has a map of all the repair cafes all over the world, including in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Europe, and the United States, here.
In Mullumbimby, NSW, Mullum Cares’s Salvage Culture Project diverts textiles from landfill by offering Make & Mend workshops and educating people how to repair instead of repurchase.
Another option is a Fixit Clinic, which is a pop-up activity where people bring their broken things and Fixit Coaches who have the required tools help guide them through the disassembly, fixing and reassembly process. These are US-based and the locations of these events can be found here.
Or if you have the skills but struggle to find the motivation or to prioritise mending, join a Mending Meetup, where you mend with others, making it a social event and allowing you to get a bit of help if needed. These are generally held by libraries and community groups.
Fixable is an excellent website that matches fixers with people needing things fixed! It is a free online platform that has created a community of repairers - those who want to repair, those who can repair, as well as those who want to discuss repair and get advice or share their knowledge in its forums. Fixable’s site also includes a marketplace where you can buy, sell, swap, trade, borrow, lend, hire, or give away anything related to repair and reuse!
Community Composting for No Green Waste to Landfill
If your council doesn’t collect biodegradable waste for composting and you aren’t keen to do it yourself, use the ShareWaste app to find a neighbour who will take your food scraps and compost them for you or drop your food waste off at a shared community composting facility.
Many community gardens have shared compost bins. Look for one at or ask your local community garden. Your local council should also be able to point you in the right direction.
You’ll find an incomplete list (because this is always changing and it is best to check your council’s website/ask your local community garden) of where to compost food scraps in Melbourne here.
We hope you’ve found some sharing projects you’d love to get involved in in your neighbourhood! For those in Sydney, this map by Share Sydney has a wide range of shared community resources in the City of Sydney and Share Adelaide has this map of sharing in Adelaide.
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