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Nextdoor identifies Australia’s top ‘upcycling’ neighbourhoods and supports the share economy with the release of “Free Finds”

Written by Josh Lepore

Neighbourhood network Nextdoor is helping to reduce Australia’s waste and boost the share economy amongst neighbours 

Australians produce 540kg of household waste per person, each year. That’s more than 10kg for every single person, every single week. As more Australians turn towards the share economy, neighbourhood network, Nextdoor,  is seeing a big spike in Aussie neighbours swapping free items locally in an effort to clean up their communities.

Over the past 12 months, a total of $1.7M worth of items have been exchanged between Aussie neighbours, showing the appetite for giving is strong. The top categories for free items are furniture, garden equipment, and home appliances and to date, the top three neighbourhoods for giving away free items are Rowville (VIC), Alphington (VIC), and Coogee (NSW). 

When it comes to turning one neighbour’s trash into another’s treasure and earning some extra cash, the three top earning neighbourhoods in the last 12 months are  Buderim (QLD), Ningi (QLD) and Prospect (SA) earning well over a million dollars between them. 

According to Clean Up Australia, of the estimated 67 million tonnes of waste Australians generated in 2017, just 37 tonnes were recycled, leaving 21.7 disposed of in landfill. It’s estimated about 130,000 tonnes of Australian plastic ends up in our waterways and oceans each year which is why recycling and reusing is front of mind for Nextdoor. 

Today, Nextdoor has announced Free Finds, a new product that allows anyone (you don’t have to be a Nextdoor user) to find and browse listed free items no matter where you are in Australia. 

From furniture to home decor to electronics, Nextdoor Free Finds allows neighbours to share their pre-loved items with a broader audience outside of their immediate area. 

Head of Nextdoor Australia, Jennie Sager says, “We want to encourage more Australians to share items with each other in an effort to reduce neighbourhood waste. Think of Free Finds like your trusted neighbourhood treasure map. It will help you breathe new life into unwanted items – it’s a great way for neighbours to save money and to tap into the resources nearby.” 

Andrew Valder, Founder and CEO of Garage Sale Trail and a Nextdoor user says, “We love that Nextdoor is stepping even more concretely into this space and taking a stand against waste…

I see loads of items going for free in my area on Nextdoor and think that anything that makes sharing between neighbours easier is absolutely a welcome addition to the share economy environment – if we are going to help save this planet, we need to start at home.” 

Nextdoor Free Finds is free to use and available in every Australian state and territory. Visit nextdoor.com.au/freefinds or tap into the Nextdoor Finds section within the Nextdoor app. 


To connect with your local neighbourhood, please login at nextdoor.com.au

Don’t forget to download the Nextdoor app and take the neighbourhood with you on-the-go.

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