Po-Dzielnia
Po-Dzielnia
first freeshop and sharing economy center in Poland
With zero-waste initiatives on the rise, a team of activists and volunteers from Poznań, Poland, decided to take the idea of sharing economy to the next level and create Po-Dzielnia, the first freeshop and sharing economy center in the country and one of the first in Europe.
In a world where the market (and, quite literally, the planet) is being flooded with cheaper and cheaper consumer goods, we decided to go one step further and create a place where everything is free. Knowing that the true environmental and social cost of our modern lifestyle is much higher than what’s on the price tag, we wanted to provide an alternative to growing consumerism and to raise awareness about our impact on the planet and other people’s lives.
If you’re new to the idea, a freeshop is basically a place where you can bring preloved goods such as clothes, accessories, household items, books or home décor and take whatever is in stock at the moment that was left there by others like you. The items left at our shop have to be clean and in good, usable condition. In addition, Po-Dzielnia [pronounced *paw-gel-nya*] also functions as a sharing economy center, organizing meetings and debates on zero waste philosophy and promoting upcycling through workshops and repair cafés.
Open Monday to Friday, Po-Dzielniais run by a team of nearly two dozen volunteers and five activists (the so-called Founding Mothers.
Our mission is not only to extend the lifecycle of consumer goods and help those in need, but also to teach people to use what they already have instead of buying everything brand-new. Although the term itself has been devalued due to large-scale commercial projects, such as Airbnb or Uber, we still believe that in its true sense, the sharing economy is the only real and attainable alternative to consumerism and that sharing IS caring: about our planet, the environment, our resources, and future generations.
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