Collaborative consumption has the potential to revolutionise the way we ‘consume’ our material pocessions. But what is it? Why is it so important? And, what will it change?
The last century was defined by hyper-consumption, where success was based on how many material items you had. This type of success is superficial and part of the reason our economies have been so unstable in recent years. The Collaborative Consumption concept offers a solution.
The new century sees the rise of Collaborative Consumption. The conecpt is not necessarily new, but it is now possible on a broad as well as local level thanks to collaborative technologies and social structures available online.
The term was first explained to me late last year by Rachel Botsman, a leader in the field, who has written a book ‘what’s mine is yours’. It discusses this new cultural and economic force transforming business, consumerism, and the way we live.
To put it into perspective some examples of how and where this is being applied:
99 Dresses: As a female I feel that I always need new clothes, I am told I cannot wear a dress more than once and am always on the lookout for the next great outfit. Due to this, many dresses sit in my wardrobe gathering dust. They are sent to St Vinnies, rarely having been worn more than a couple of times.
99 Dresses is a platform designed to give you an infinite wardrobe of dresses. The premise is simple ~ upload images of your items online and trade with fashionable members. It works on a community and trust building system.
ZipCar ~Wheels when you want them: How often are our cars sitting idle? How much does it cost us? Wouldn’t it be great to have a car tailored to our needs?
GoGet offers this in Sydney but ZipCar does a far better job of explaining. After being so attached to my car for such a long time it is hard to let it go, but I do look forward to the day I am free of the burden. I now have the opportunity to use and pay for a car only when I need it.
These are just 2 examples of a world with infinite possibilities.
What will you share tomorrow?
Another great Aussie example is rentoid.com – where you can list anything for rent, or rent things off people from around Australia. It’s about putting those things that are gathering dust to use, and also saving a bit of cash by borrowing things from someone else.
Clothing Exchange events are also a good way to reinvigorate your wardrobe and accessories with things others ‘can’t be seen in again’!
Don’t you find that the non-web related clothes swap events don’t really contain great finds?
The web encourages participants to upload their best items, and develop a trust system.
I’m wondering if there has been a comparison?
‘Why buy the drill when all you need is the hole?’
There’s a new Australian based collaborative consumption initiative: Friends with Things – http://www.friendswiththings.com
It was inspired by Rachel Botsman (I saw her at TedX in Sydney) she had a statistic: the average electric drill was used for only 13 minutes over its entire life time.
People didn’t want the drill, they wanted the hole.
I wondered how many other things people own that they seldom used.
I wondered about the environmental cost of manufacturing, transporting and selling all of these things; it must be huge. How much could we help the environment just by sharing what we have?
It made me wonder about how much we consume, about how sustainable our lives are.
So I started Friends with Things- http://www.friendswiththings.com – it’s a place where you can share things with, or borrow things from your neighbours for free – from bicycles to power tools, from cameras to sewing machines.
It’s about collaborative consumption and sustainability – but there’s more to it than just helping the environment. At Friends with Things you’re also welcome to share your time, skills and expertise with people – you can even share your local knowledge or connect with local people who share common interests.
In doing this, you make connections with your neighbours – and those connections can help bring back a sense of community and neighbourhood that’s often missing from apartment complexes, city living and suburban sprawl – so it’s a nice way to make friends with your neighbours.
It’s part neighbourhood notice board, part local market and part ‘town square’ – it’s a community based initiative, it’s Australian, it’s free and it always will be.
Visit the site and let us know what you think.
Cheers
Ravi Prasad
Project coordinator, Friends with Things
Finalist, 2011 Earth Hour Awards
Twitter: @ihavethings
Hi, I’m writing for the Social Entrepreneur Guide. I’d like to quote this blog post for an article I’m publishing on social entrepreneurship business models. Would that be ok?