Buy Nowt LS6 – A Library of Things

Childhood and Parenthood can be an expensive time. How many times has your child said, ‘can I have this?’ or ‘can we do this?’ and you’ve either had to say no or said yes and spent money you’d prefer not to have? If you have bought it, then it’s just one more thing to find a place to store in the house with the rest of the stuff you don’t use that often either.

Well with the Library of Things you no longer have to choose between these two subpar options. You can borrow stuff instead of having to buy them thus saving money, carbon and space.

There are so many items we use in life that don’t get used all the time and that we don’t need to have all the time. We’re so used to thinking ‘I need this … Where can I buy it’ instead we can think ‘I need this. Where can I borrow it?’

Imagine how much easier and cheaper a family camping trip could be if you could borrow all the camping stuff you need from the Library instead of having to buy and store it. By not buying all the camping stuff, some people might be able to now afford the campsite itself meaning more people get to enjoy camping and the great outdoors. Or by borrowing from the Library, it’ll make it easier for your child to go to scout camp, girl guides camp or woodcraft folk or for the older ones maybe a music festival.

The Library has nearly everything you need for a camping trip including tents, sleeping bags, roll mats, air mattresses, gazebos, folding tables, camp chairs including kid’s camp chairs, roll mats and sleeping bags as well as tent cots.

We’ve also got some travel plugs, suitcases, travel cots, travel highchairs for normal holidays too. Items that are useful for families going away on holiday but also great for Leeds based grandparents to use when their grandkids come to stay with them.

What about those rainy-day weekends? Well, the Library has plenty of board games as well as unusual cooking equipment for you and your kids to try when you don’t want to go out.

Maybe you’ve got a child’s party coming up? The Library can help with that too … we’ve got lots of plastic plates and cutlery, so you don’t have to buy single use or go without. We’ve got costumes for dressing up, fairy lights, a disco ball and so much other stuff to make your party even more fun. Food wise we have chocolate fountains, ice cream makers and cotton candy machines.

The Library can help with so many things in a family’s life … we can’t mention them all, but we have gardening, DIY and painting items too, that you can borrow.

The Buy Nowt LS6 Library of Things is at the Headingley Methodist Church. We’ve got over 600 items to borrow. We are open 4 – 6pm on Fridays and 1 – 4pm on Saturdays. Please tell your friends, family, neighbours and school about us and how we can help them live cheaper, less polluting and less wasteful lives.

Let’s #LeedsByExample on climate change

#LeedsByExample have fantastic resources, toolkit, guidance and opportunities to get involved in. As stated on their website ‘We can’t solve climate change on our own, but together we can make a huge difference. The food we eat, the way we travel and power our homes, the stuff we buy and the way we get rid of it all affects climate change. Living more sustainably is easier than you think —and it can also help us save money and live healthier lives. By making simple changes, we can reduce our carbon footprint and help make Leeds a carbon neutral city. ‘ Find out more below.