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There are many ways to celebrate Earth Month, one of which is to reuse and repurpose rather than buying new (and giving away what you don’t need). Swapping and sharing goods and skills is not only an environmentally friendly practice – it’s also a social and fun one.
With that in mind, we’ve rounded up some swaps, fix-it clinics and giveaways happening on the Peninsula this spring, and because of the season, it’s an especially good time to score some seeds, plants and compost.
Many of these events take place at libraries, a reminder that your local library is always a great place to source free information and borrow items including and beyond books, such as tools, park passes, musical instruments and more. You can also check out Little Free Libraries and your neighborhood Buy Nothing group year-round!
A Novel Affair book swaps
A Novel Affair romance bookshop hosts book swaps including, on April 10 and 11, blind date book swaps (part of the shop’s monthlong series of “Bridgerton”-themed events). Bring a wrapped new or gently used book along with a few clues about it to exchange with a fellow bibliophile. If you don’t have wrapping supplies, come early and the store can provide them.
A Novel Affair, 295 State St., Los Altos; April 10-11 at noon.
Burlingame’s Year of Swaps
It’s the “year of swaps” at the Burlingame Library, with different swaps scheduled for each month through November. Past swaps have included puzzles, games and toys, craft supplies and plants, and next is a baby clothes and supplies swap April 11. Bring gently used or outgrown baby items (up to size 3T) and find something new for your growing little one. Leftover items will be donated to Goodwill.
In the months to come, look for swaps featuring yarn, fabric and sewing notions; plates, glasses and bakeware; and more plant, craft and puzzle exchanges.
Burlingame Main Library, April 11, 10 a.m. to noon, and May 2, 2-4 p.m., 480 Primrose Road, Burlingame. Check online for dates and times of future swaps.
Fix-it clinics and Repair Café events
Microwave on the fritz? Sewing machine malfunctioning? Zipper not acting right? Instead of condemning your broken gadgets to the garbage heap, bring them to a fix-it clinic.
Fix-it clinics, like the ones offered by San Mateo County’s Department of Sustainability, or by Repair Café Silicon Valley, are community self-help workshops staffed by handy volunteers who assist in repairing items for free and aim to empower participants to take a hands-on approach to troubleshooting and fixing household goods. The goal is to encourage repair and reuse of goods rather than throwing them away, and new volunteers are welcome.
Repair Café Silicon Valley was formed by the merging of organizations in Palo Alto and Mountain View. It now encompasses Santa Clara County in general. Repair Café is an international movement and, according to the organization’s website, Repair Café Palo Alto was the first branch in the U.S.
Fix-it clinics and repair advice workshops are held regularly at local libraries in San Mateo County. The next repair advice workshop is April 9, 5:30-7:30 p.m., South San Francisco Library, 901 Civic Campus Way, South San Francisco. The next fix-it clinic is May 16, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., East Palo Alto Library, 2415 University Ave., East Palo Alto.
Repair Café Silicon Valley events are held in Santa Clara County, including April 19 from 1-4 p.m. at Palo Alto’s Earth Day Festival, Palo Alto Art Center, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto and April 26, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at The Museum of American Heritage, 351 Homer Ave., Palo Alto.
Silicon Valley Bike Exchange events
Silicon Valley Bike Exchange is an organization that repairs and gives away bicycles. The group helps promote biking as a healthy, environmentally friendly, useful and fun way to get around, and it also teaches bike repair skills.
The refurbished bikes are donated to local social service organizations, which then distribute them based on each agency’s eligibility requirements. The program accepts bikes and bike parts of all sizes and sells select bikes in its shop.
Volunteers are always welcome, and no previous mechanical experience is necessary – parts, tools and guidance are all provided.
Silicon Valley Bike Exchange, 3961 East Bayshore Road, Palo Alto. Check the organization’s Eventbrite page for upcoming events, including events geared toward youth.
Rinconada Library Seed Swap
Gardeners are invited to bring seeds to share and swap with others. Bins will be available for sorting and organizing according to type, such as vegetable, flower or herb. Seeds should be no more than 3 years old, ideally, and no hybrid seeds are permitted.
Rinconada Library, April 11, 1-3 p.m., 1213 Newell Road, Palo Alto.
Mountain View Library Plant Exchange
Bring plants from your home or garden and exchange them for different ones at Mountain View Library’s spring plant exchange. Plants of many types are welcome, including seedlings, cuttings, houseplants, container plants, and small shrubs and trees.
Identification tags or labels on the plants are encouraged, and donations should be brought to the garage on the side of the library of Mercy Street. You may take a plant even if you don’t have one to swap.
Mountain View Library, April 25, 2-4 p.m., 585 Franklin St., Mountain View. Plants should be brought to the bookmobile garage.
Redwood City’s Seed and Seedlings Swap
Share, swap and start seedlings from Redwood City Library’s seed library and get tips and supplies, with a focus on summer crops that can start indoors and be transplanted outside.
Redwood City Downtown Library’s front plaza, May 4, 3-4 p.m., 1044 Middlefield Road, Redwood City.
Compost giveaways
Compost is nature’s own recycling, transforming organic waste scraps into healthy new soil. If your garden needs more compost than you’re able to produce at home, there is probably a free source near you.
Below are a few compost giveaways on the Peninsula, either ongoing or on upcoming dates this spring. Bring your own shovels and containers. Some events have quantity limits and require proof of residency.
Residents in the RethinkWaste service area (from Burlingame to East Palo Alto) can pick up free compost year-round from the Shoreway Environmental Center Transfer Station, 333 Shoreway Road, San Carlos. Open hours for the transfer center are weekdays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and weekends from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Residents of Sunnyvale, Mountain View and Cupertino can pick up free compost and mulch year-round from the SMaRT Station Recycling Center and the Charles Street Garden parking lot, 301 Carl Road and 433 Charles St. (compost only), Sunnyvale.
Palo Alto residents can pick up compost while supplies last at the compost giveaway station at Eleanor Pardee Community Garden, Center Drive near Martin Avenue, Palo Alto (Tuesday-Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
Los Altos residents can get free compost on upcoming dates in May and August at the Los Altos Community Center parking lot (97 Hillview Ave.).
Millbrae residents can get free mulch on April 18 from 9 a.m. to noon on Spur Trail off Millbrae Avenue between Palm and Elder avenues.
Foster City residents can get free compost on April 18, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Boat Park, corner of Foster City Boulevard and Bounty Drive.
San Bruno residents can participate in a spring compost giveaway April 25-26, 8-11 a.m., 500 First Ave. (Lions Field back parking lot, first base line).
Half Moon Bay residents can get free compost at the city’s Earth Day Recycling Event on April 25, 9 a.m. to noon, Smith Field parking lot, Wave Crest Road, Half Moon Bay.
Daly City residents can score free compost on select dates from the Department of Water & Wastewater Resources, 153 Lake Merced Blvd., Daly City (next up: May 13-14 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
There are also special compost events in Cupertino (April 11), South San Francisco (May 3) and San Mateo (May 9).
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