About Treasure City Thrift
Our Purpose
Treasure City is organized for solidarity not charity purposes, and/or educational or scientific purposes, including;
- protecting the environment by transforming waste into resources which benefit our communities,
- educating the public about alternative economic structures,
- educating the public about zero waste,
- providing community space for historically marginalized communities,
- inspiring art and creativity,
- making local and donated goods available and affordable for all people,
- and providing support to other organizations to build a just and sustainable society
The Most Affordable Thrift Store In Austin
At Treasure City, we believe that thrift stores by definition should be thrifty. So we are. By selling items in our store at lower prices than other local retail and thrift shops, we are affordable to all, opening our doors to a truly diverse set of folks. And unlike other thrift stores, we work towards zero-waste: we throw away as little as possible, we partner with Ecology Action to recycle whatever we can, and we give away unsold items each month at the Really Really Free Market. We are a constantly evolving hybrid of many things such as:
- Affordability
- Community & Events space
- Infoshop
- Non-Profit Business
- Reuse & Waste Reduction Center
- Really Really Free Market
- Monthly 25c Sale
- An experiment in alternative economics
The store is collectively organized. There are no bosses here! We are supported entirely by donations from our community! (Click here to see donation guidelines.) From the items you donate, we try to reuse and resell as much as possible. To further divert waste from the landfill, we have a comprehensive recycling program developed with Ecology Action. We hope this project will be an inspiration and model for other groups to replicate. We welcome your questions and comments.
Collective Inspiration
Below are links to groups, books, movements, and other grassroots, collective projects and events that have shaped and continue to sculpt who we are and, consequently, what Treasure City Thrift is:
- Affinity Group Organizing
- AK Press
- Anarchist Soccer
- Anti-Globalization Movement
- Battle of Seattle (1999 WTO Protests)
- The Cooperative Movement
- Common Ground Relief
- Cream City Collective
- Consensus decision-making
- Crimethinc
- Deacons for Defense
- East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse
- Educators for Change
- Free Stores/Shops
- Globalize Liberation, the book
- Haymarket Affair & Mayday
- Horizontalism, the book
- WW2 Italian Partisan Movement
- KPWR Community Radio, Austin
- Mondragon Cooperative Movement, Spain
- Monkeywrench Books, Austin
- Network of Bay Area Worker Coops
- NYMAA (New York Metro Alliance of Anarchists) Organizational Structure
- Olympia Free School (WA)
- Portland Alliance of Worker Collectives
- Radical Encuentro Camp, Texas
- Really Really Free Market on wikipedia
- Rhizome Collective, Austin
- San Francisco Diggers
- Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) / The Weather Underground
- Spanish Anarchists
- Spanish Civil War
- US Federation of Worker Owned Coops
- Women’s Action to Gain Economic Security
- We Build the Road as We Travel, the book
- Worker Coperatives
- Yellow Bike Project, Austin
- Zapatistas & Zapatismo
- Zapatistas’ Sixth Declaration of the Lacandon Jungle