“I like the whole idea of meeting your neighbors,” said Secaucus resident Goethy Revollo. “And also ‘reduce, reuse, recycle.’”
The “three Rs” are the watchwords of the Secaucus Swappies, a group established about a year ago to provide a green way to de-clutter your home while meeting your neighbors in town.
“I bought some books. We love books,” said Revollo, who also gave away some trays through the group. “They were just taking up space in my house. I love Anjie’s idea, it’s really great.”
Anjna “Anjie” Gandhi-Hugerich is the founder of the Secaucus Swappies. “We have a Facebook page,” she explained. “It’s all environmental. We reduce waste by reusing household items.”
On Sunday, Dec. 14, the group held their first event, a swap meet in the Recreation Center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thirty residents from town participated as vendors.
Alina and Wilson Romero filled two tables with a wide variety of items, from children’s toys to a framed Salvador Dali print. “We have a little bit of everything,” said Alina. “Kids’ clothes. We have adult movies. No, let me rephrase that.”
“Reusing items you no longer need keeps them out of the landfills and is often more energy efficient than recycling.” –Secaucus Swappies
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That’s because Secaucus Swappies is, as the name implies, limited to town residents. “It makes the buying-selling experience better,” said Hugerich.
Jena Winter, one of two administrators who help run the site, agreed. “It’s more about community, getting to know your neighbors, swapping,” she said.
How it works
“Secaucus residents submit a request for membership on our Facebook page,” said Hugerich, explaining how the group works. “Then they post pictures of all their stuff and put a dollar amount on it. If there’s another member that’s interested, they’ll respond. And then they’ll set up the pickup of the item. We do ISOs as well, which is ‘in search of’ something.”
As of Sunday morning, the site had 326 members and 555 photos of items for sale. The group does have certain rules in addition to the strict Secaucus-only restriction. For example, “This is not about personal businesses coming in and handcrafting Christmas wreaths to sell for a profit,” said Hugerich. That scenario doesn’t fit within the “three R’s” concept.
As the Facebook page states, “Each item you sell or give away enables you to move unwanted items out of your home and additionally helps to save the environment by allowing others to reuse it. Reusing items you no longer need keeps them out of the landfills and is often more energy efficient than recycling.”
An alternative to garage sales
Because Mayor Michael Gonnelli and the town offered the Rec Center for free and provided advertising for the event, the Swappies chose to let all Secaucus residents participate and not restrict it to members of the group.
Ling He and her husband Jimmy Gu live in the Northend Village Condominiums and are not members of the Secaucus Swappies but heard about the event through town notifications and showed up with items to sell.
“It’s great,” enthused He. “I suggested to the town a couple of years ago, I said I have stuff I want to sell, do you know anyplace I can sell? They said, ‘You know, we have Garage Sale Day.’ I said, we live in the community, we have a parking lot, how can we do this? So today is perfect.”
A former news reporter and editor who conducted the only one-on-one interview with Ronald Reagan during his visit to China in 1984, she moved to Secaucus 25 years ago. “It’s a wonderful place,” she said.
“I think it’s the perfect area,” agreed Wilson Romero, who noted the friendliness and mutual support provided by residents. “They actually take care of this town.”
Goethy Revollo felt the same way. A former resident of Brooklyn, she moved to Secaucus three years ago and is now raising a 2-year-old. “The area we were in was nice but it was just a neighborhood. Here you feel you’re part of a community.”
Community minded
“Community” is one thing the Secaucus Swappies take very seriously.
“It helps bring everybody together,” said Marian Francesco about the event, “instead of setting up in front of your house for a garage sale and having to deal with the weather.”
Francesco was selling Christmas ornaments, among other things. A graphic designer for a greeting card company, she offered to add the buyer’s name on anything purchased. “Notice my signs,” she said with an infectious laugh. “They’re prettier than the items on sale.”
Also spread across her table was a wide array of Jets swag, including shirts and bags. How come?
“Actually I was a Jets fan my whole life and then they signed Michael Vick,” she said, referring to the quarterback who spent over a year in prison for his involvement in a dog-fighting ring. “My love for animals supercedes the football. It was like breaking up with a long-term boyfriend. I see them on TV, I reminisce. But I couldn’t stick with them anymore, I’m sorry.”
Francesco was in good company at the event. Not far from her table, the Secaucus Swappies were selling items to raise funds for the Secaucus Animal Shelter. Residents – including attendees at the swap meet – donated items to fill the table, with all proceeds going to the shelter. Whatever was left over the next morning was then donated to the United Way.
Giving back is a strong motivator for the group. “We had some members who are less fortunate,” said Anjie’s husband Paul, the second administrator on the site. “They were looking to get stuff for their kids for the holidays.” And they found it.
The Secaucus Swappies page can be found on Facebook. Look for their tagline: “Saving the planet one hand-me-down at a time…”
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.