From trade-up adventures to face-to-face swap meets, Swapsity’s swaps come in all shapes and sizes. No matter the scale, they all bring economic, environmental and social benefits. In the past, we’ve envisioned using our swapping economy to support meaningful, non-profit causes, organizations and events that get the community involved. Now our vision is turning into a reality.

Word11, the world’s first not-for-profit 24-hour blogging festival, is teaming up with Swapsity and tapping into the power of our community to swap for a list of items needed to run the Toronto event. They’re crowdsourcing plants, chairs, easels, routers, tents, beverages, ladders, serving trays, outdoor lamps, and much more. Save your cash and simply lend them something on their wishlist to get up to three FREE tickets, worth $40 each, to the August 27 festival.

“What often happens is that items and materials are bought for an event that are not used after the event is over,” said Tm Mahdi, Word11 committee member, Swapsity member and director and founder of Cg6 Inc. “Some of these wind up recycled or in landfills. The bottom line is that this is not an efficient and sustainable way to run an event. Instead, we’re looking to Swapsity members and our community of bloggers to provide us with the resources they can spare and we can use the money we save to put on an even greater event.”

Those who have items to contribute can upload the pictures and descriptions on Word11’ s swap portal on Swapsity. Word11 will choose which items are needed, contact you directly to arrange item drop-off and provide you with as many as three free tickets. This collaboration helps make Word11 accessible to those who have a tight budget but are willing to help out. It is also an opportunity for Torontonians to participate in the collabor ative consumption movement.

Swapping is a smart and creative solution to lowering our environmental footprint. By turning to the community and Swapsity swappers, Word11 can meet their sustainability goals, save money, engage participants and provide a chance to camp out in the city. Organizers are making this event as green as possible. They’re utilizing a green shuttle service and relying on dark lit walls for bigger and brighter presentations without the need for unnatural light.

Are you a blogger looking to improve or monetize your passion? Want to network with other bloggers and meet some awesome people? Come out to the Word11 festival and learn from more than 13 guest speakers from across North America as they share their blogging experiences and challenges and spend the night focused on the art and business of blogging. The festival will take place at the Centre for Social Innovation as well as Mirvish Village, the home and origin of Canada's writers and filmmakers.

Our last initiative, the Movie Music Eco-Swap at the Live Green Toronto Festival, saw more than 2,350 items swapped in just nine hours, saving Torontonians over $18,000. We’re looking forward to creating more social, environmental and economic impact by collaborating with the Word11 team.

We might even be starting a new trend through this collaboration! Seriously, why pay for rental or buy new if you can get it the barter way? Swapping and sharing is a much greener and cost-efficient choice. Head over to Word11’s swap portal and trade your way to a ticket. We hope to see you there!