Want to join these swap groups in Chennai?

Perfectly usable furniture, electronic goods, utensils and books often end up discarded because households have outgrown them. While volunteering for waste collection drives Kasturba Nagar resident Swathi Ramanan regularly came across this anomaly and felt prompted to start two online groups, both with a WhatsApp and Telegram presence, that encourage swapping over shopping, wherever that is possible, and give gently used household items and books a new address where they are cherished all over again. In addition, following a discussion in one of these swap groups, she also formed a group where participants can learn about free wellness programmes much before they are rolled out.

At last count, around 1,500 residents of Chennai follow that imperative, always asking themselves whether they can swap and not shop. A WhatsApp-based initiative that spilled over to Telegram, the group enables swapping of household goods. Born on 15 July 2024 in WhatsApp, where it has hit the ceiling being packed with 1025 members, Swap Don’t Shop has had to find an additional home in Telegram, where it commands the following of over 500 members. The author of the initiative, Kasturba Nagar resident Swathi Ramanan, felt the need for this group while coordinating waste collection drives as a volunteer of Residents of Kasturba Nagar Association (ROKA). During these drives, she repeatedly noticed items still in good condition being discarded. “We saw many usable household items being thrown away. We believe a product has to be used till its lifetime comes to an end,” says Swathi. Initially launched as a clothes exchange group by Swathi along with Vaishnavi Venkatesh, the platform was later expanded to include all household items after the early model failed to gain traction.