FREE FLEA MARKET

Two weeks ago I went to a free flea market for the first time. A free flea market is  just like at a normal flea market, but everything is of curz-free. Some of the market stalls are run by free shops, but anyone can come and participate and put up their own stall. People can come and just take things or if they wanna give something away, they just put it on one of the tables.
It’s like a spontaneous free shop.

I took the pictures a bit late, almost no sun anymore.

The last market was held outside on a nice, sunny day at the backyard of “Kunst-Stoffe” in Pankow, which is in the north part of Berlin.

What projects am I gonna make with these?

Kunst-Stoffe is also an interesting place, it’s like a recycling yard in a building. People and businesses can drop off materials and resources they don’t need anymore.

Got a nice stack of fabrics!

They have fabrics, haberdashery, wood, old electronics, foams, wood, tiles.. all sorts of stuff. You have to pay for the things, but you can probably get them at a decent price.

A splitter box, also very useful!

The market was very small and lots of fun. I met some of my friends and we had a blast looking for things and hanging out.

Got one book on wild plants, the second one that I’ve got for free! And one on storage solutions.

One woman even gave me a free green smoothie.

Ah yeah, a knife. You always need a knife.

There weren’t many stalls, but people brought really cool stuff, no rubbish. And some people even like “rubbish”, I would still use ripped clothing and sew something with it for example. And everyone was really lovely!!

Some eccentric coat hangers!

Very awesome!! I will be there again next time!
Is there something like free markets where you are? If not, maybe you feel like organizing one?

Freegans

Freegans, weird name, right?! I don’t like it. What has getting stuff for free to do with vegan, coz it doesn’t hurt anyone?! Doesn’t mean they are vegan either. When i was squatting i never heard anyone actually call themselves a freegan.

That’s to say, i like the concept, just find the name a bit  ..contrived.

Nevertheless, you can check out this freegan website to find out more about how the ideologies of waste minimization, consuming and working less and eco-friendly transportation are tying in with the freegan lifestyle .

I posted a clip about some freegan practices in this previous post before.

Have a look at how the freegans do it, in these clips.

This woman’s show is quite funny(she’s so Australian!).

Freegan/dumpster diving/skipping and food recycling, as it is sometimes called, isn’t for everyone, i find it a bit rough and embarrassing to go through bins looking for food, but i have done it and i have eaten food other people pulled out of the rubbish (in general i’m more comfortable with getting other stuff, furniture or homewares for example).
If you’re broke, you’re grateful for things you probably wouldn’t normally be so grateful for.

Also, for most people i met it wasn’t a political statement it was a necessity, but then i suppose your life is always in some way a political statement.

Have you ever pulled shit out of the rubbish, apart from picking up the odd piece of hard rubbish from the side of the road? What was your best find? Would you eat food that came out of the bin if it was fresh and clean?