Socializing with other people was strongly present throughout the informants’ narratives and recycling event’s contribution to community building was recognizable. The participants enjoy interacting with other partakers. In this sense, they don’t only go to alternative marketplaces to purchase products but to socialize with their peers. Alternative consumption seems to foster social interaction and this has been well acknowledged in other studies as well (Belk 2010; Ozanne & Ballantine 2010; Albinsson & Perera 2012). Naturally, being able to buy secondhand item from the flea market requires some amount interaction between two parties. According to Belk (2010) sharing creates a bond and feelings of social solidarity but yet, not everyone wishes that kind of bonding. This is similar to view of Eckhardt and Bardhi (2015) who regard that consumers are more in search of lower costs and convenience than establishing relationships with other consumers. Still, participants of the present study held as
important that the event brings people together and creates a sense of community. Cleaning Day was seen as an event where they can meet new people as well as see their friends.
Cleaning Day unites people living in the same neighborhoods and builds community. For instance, Marja told that before she was familiar with Cleaning Day she was surprised by a neighbor who wished her “Happy Cleaning Day” in the apartment building’s hall.
Additionally, Enni compared Cleaning Day to yard sales that are popular especially in the suburban neighborhoods in the United States. The participants’ narratives indicate clearly that Cleaning Day is primarily a communal outdoor event. Marja explains: “It (Cleaning Day) is so much more. Someone makes pancakes and sells coffee. It’s a place where you spend time.” The informants recalled the groups of friends and families they have seen in the event. They also recounted the easiness of participation and the fact that they can only take a few bags of clothes with them and spend a day in a park with their friends. Some indicated that selling was actually secondary and that the primary purpose was to “spend time” as seen in the latter excerpt. They also associated sunny weather with the event that likely signals their favorable feelings towards the event and the atmosphere.
Enni: Every time I’ve been to Cleaning Day it’s been sunny. I have very sunny memories of Cleaning Day.
Eeva: One time I was selling stuff with my boyfriend in small city in Finland…and there was hardly any people...but it was sunny at least and fun.
This was in the summer two years ago. Sun was shining and it was really fun.
Socializing also occurs many times within individuals’ own networks and Cleaning Day is a place where individuals meet their friends and families. They can either go to sell or wander around with a group of friends.
Tiina: It’s a uniting event, there can never be enough of these kinds of events, and usually you go as a group of friends to sell, or wander around and after that you go to have a bite. It’s an excellent way to see your friends rather than just go to have a coffee like you normally do. I think it’s a very positive thing and I think there should be even more of these (events) that get people moving.
What participants appreciate in Cleaning Day is that “ordinary people start organizing events and go out”. In this way the informants acknowledged their own and collective co-creative role in the experience. Mostly, they felt that the participants of the event have similar consumption values and interests as theirs even though the participants are different age and come from different places. For instance, the informants considered the participants to be the ones who are interested in recycling but still being part of mass and not distinct from other people. What was perceivable is that the informants felt close mentally with their local peers, and people who lived further away felt more distant. They inscribed that they couldn’t picture
“what is the Cleaning Day like elsewhere”.
Factor that seems to reduce a sense of community and enjoyment of alternative marketplaces is the growing popularity of second hand consumption that has exploded during the recent years. Seemingly, the financial crisis has lead to the increased amount of shoppers at alternative marketplaces that cause side effects such as crowdedness and long lines that again cause feelings of frustration and stress for the participants. Enni and Tiina tell about their experiences when visiting a flea market in Helsinki, organized in Kaapelintehdas.
Enni: …There was also a blogger flea market and first I waited to get in, there was almost 100 meter line, and then I went upstairs where the bloggers were and then there was another 20 meter line and a doorman who was letting people in. There was about 15 bloggers, I bought a pair of jeans but it was an experience that got me to think that this is too much. The flea market kind of lost its meaning when people were waiting in the line, it shouldn’t be that way.
Tiina: …so I’m thinking if there’s any sense to wait in the 800 meter line just to go to flea market, because obviously you think in the back of the 800 meter line whether there’s going to be anything left to buy when you get in.
When the group of flea market hobbyists is growing and new people join the community, it might arouse contradictory feelings among those who have visited flea markets already since they were little. Of course more participants mean better offering but at the same time competition between the participants increases when there’s now more people trying to find the best possible bargain. Moreover, the participants who have obtained a feeling that flea markets belong to only marginality of consumers is diminishing and this might have an
unfavorable effect on their sense of community. Development of the community can have a pessimistic welcoming by the members as showed by Jonsson (2006, Belk 2010) who studied one Swedish car-sharing organization. With nearly 340 members some of the original members were worried that the community was getting too large since they couldn’t personally know each other anymore and this made it more difficult to sustain feelings of community and enjoy the experience fully.