TNBT: collaborative consumption

Fair bit of buzz around about ‘collaborative consumption [or consumerism]‘ at the moment.

What does it mean?

The Guardian sums it up well:

“Networks, smart phones and real-time platforms create the efficiency and social glue to trade, swap, barter, lend, gift or share “idling capacity” in ways that can enhance all aspects of our daily lives. It’s a growing culture and economy called collaborative consumption.”

Basically selling and swapping things we own in exchange for cash/other stuff (but, according to most of the coverage, with the added benefit of ‘strengthening communities’).

From a piece in the Sunday Times News Review (page 7 – 6/2/11) to this piece on the Guardian’s website, Rachel Botsman’s book What’s Mine is Yours: How Collaborative Consumption is Changing the Way We Live, is getting some brilliant coverage and the concept is being pitched as ‘the next big thing’ in consumer trends.

All the coverage mentions lots of websites that let you ‘collaboratively consume’, or sell/hire your old crap. Here are some examples of how it all works:

• Rent out an empty room – crashpadder.com
• Give someone space in your garden – http://landshare.net/
• Rent out your car – whipcar.com / http://www.zipcar.com/
• Lend/borrow everyday items (e.g. power tools) – http://www.ecomodo.com/
• Sell your homemade art – http://www.folksy.com/
• Places to stay around the world – http://www.airbnb.com/

Glossary:

“micropreneur” – we can all make money from our skills and the things we own

“idling capacity” – the untapped value of everything we own and can offer to others