413

 Local byttestation

A byttestation (Danish, in English: swap shop) is an alternative organisation where humans can bring the items they don't need or want and take anything they need or want. While exchange/swap without any money involved is at the heart of this idea, many people simply give something or take something to byttestationer. For example, my partner and I usually give things (such as gifts we receive) but almost never take anything. Usually, one can find a lot of books and children's items in such places, as well as kitchen items and clothing. I've tried to give away very high quality or even new items that could be sold, in a hope that it will contribute to redistribution on the community level. For example, I gave away two beautiful and new items of clothing that my partner gave me for my birthday, a beautiful vase that we received as a gift, and I gave away an almost new reusable coffee cup. Perhaps some fellow humans take some items from byttestationer and resell them, but it's not something that can be controlled, and I would not feel bad about someone making a small business selling second-hand items. 

As my partner and I moved into our new home in an apartment block, we discovered that in the recycling area there is also a small byttestation. It's so wonderful. It is a space where neighbours can make use of common resources and take each others' books. Humans who don't live in the apartment block cannot use it, and this is the only thing I dislike about this place, but there is a very big byttestation nearby too (5 minutes away or so), and a very small one just a couple of minutes away. 

Some fellow humans would perhaps donate items to charities. My partner and I have given many items to the Danish Red Cross and Diakonissestiftelsen (The Deaconess Foundation). But giving something to one's local community without any monetary exchange involved feels very different. Oftentimes, in a byttestation one can find perhaps not very expensive but useful items such as cutlery. If I was a student moving to Copenhagen, I would get plates from a byttestation.

I love looking at the books that are left by persons in byttestationer. I am planning to bring copies of my own book there too. 

412

 New chapter

A couple of days ago, we finished moving to our new place and cleaned the previous one. We moved slowly, meaning that we intentionally decided to forego any mode of transportation (apart from a simple, not cargo bike) and help from fellow humans. We gave ourselves 18 days to leave the previous apartment. To move all our belongings, we carried them ourselves (or transported them on the bike). We went to our old place between 3 and 5 times almost every day. Moving this way was possible to do because both of us practise minimalism. We didn't have many belongings to begin with. The most challenging ones to transport were the mattresses and some pieces of furniture. We disassembled larger pieces of furniture. We now live on the 5th floor in a building without a lift, so it was challenging to bring some heavier items upstairs. But overall, we experienced this move as joyful and fun. 

I liked cleaning the previous apartment to express my gratitude for its service. It was wonderful to prepare that beautiful space for the new tenants. Perhaps some fellow humans see cleaning the apartment they are leaving as a chore they would rather not do, but for me it was a positive experience, similar to when I cleaned my Swedish and my Finnish apartments as I was leaving those countries. To clean the apartment we were leaving, we used baking soda, soap and a biodegradable cleaning and disinfecting solution. 

In our previous apartment, we had 2 beds (one for us, the other one for my partner's child), a table, 4 chairs, a tøjstativ, and a bench. We left our bed and the tøjstativ in the storage room downstairs (they are very common here in the Nordics) in the new apartment block. We felt that the mattress would be enough in the new bedroom, and we have some built-in storage here, so the tøjstativ is not necessary anymore. Over time, we hope to find a new home for those pieces of furniture.

There were some other items that we gave away via a byttestation (swap shop) as we didn't need them anymore. Among them were some plates my partner inherited from his grandparents. We are planning to give away a large suitcase that my partner used to use to carry his child's belongings when the child very young. At times we talk about having our own child, but if we do, I would certainly practise slow parenting and minimalism, so I would never use a large suitcase. 

The only object that is new to our space is a large chest that my partner inherited from his grandparents. This chest was not in our previous apartment, but somehow it looks very beautiful in our new place. We don't use it for storage. It's there for aesthetic reasons. 

We decided not to decorate our space. This is one of the compromises my partner made when we moved in together. I've always avoided decorations as I find them unnecessary and overstimulating (for my own space). The only objects I use as decoration are stones that I find in Nature. My partner mentioned that his quality of life doesn't diminish when there are no decorations, so we don't have any.

We also decided to live without curtains. I've lived without curtains for many years, as I prefer to live with the rhythms of nature. I don't find it difficult to fall asleep when it's still light.

We invited a couple of new kitchen towels made from certified organic cotton because we used the old ones to clean our previous apartment. We will probably invite a few extra objects to accommodate the needs of my partner's child. 

We lived with only one set of bedding as we had a shared dryer (we could not dry our clothes and textiles in the rented apartment). In our new apartment, the washing machine is also a dryer, but we don't use it as a dryer. We invited a drying rack into our space, and another set of bedding that is exactly the same as the one we have been using. 

In the new apartment, there is more space, though not a lot more. I don't feel I want to live with more objects, though more objects would certainly fit. 

Dwelling in this new apartment feels like opening a new chapter in my life. I've learned that moving with objects can be pleasant, that stepping into a larger apartment doesn't necessarily provoke the desire to have more.