[In one apartment building, residents have] access to the building’s Common Goods room, a basement closet stocked with household items that residents could check out for free. Among the dozens of objects: a sewing machine, a Ninja professional blender and a white porcelain dinner service for 12....
[In another apartment building, the] offerings are athletic — bikes, tents, scooters, longboards.
- Why Buy Anything You Could Borrow (Especially If You’re Renting)? The sharing economy has come to apartment buildings — and landlords have discovered a new way to attract tenants. <https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/30/realestate/apartment-rentals-sharing-economy.html>
This is a healthier approach to the "degrowth" movement, and could help to foster the type of community that many people miss today. In the past it was more common to borrow things from friends and family in the area, but today it is rare that such friends and family live close enough.
ReplyDeleteI have always loved this idea. I have considered asking my neighbors if they would like to share a wood chipper.
ReplyDeleteMany libraries are now offering "Library of Things" that can be checked out by patrons. Often runs the gamut, from knitting/crochet needles to fishing poles, .backyard movie kit to clothing steamer, digital conversion equipment to binoculars, metal detectors to cookie cutters.
ReplyDeleteWe see the concept in our area for power tools and “marker space” type items. Where a person needs a tool or to learn how to use it for a project.
DeleteIt’s a good concept which seems to thrive in environments were the degree of personal responsibility is high and anonymity is low - e.g. small community, via a faith organization.
Lol this is pretty rich coming from you Muffy. Why don't you let some of us borrow your clothes or your furniture or perhaps your sitting room?
ReplyDeleteSWNE has a focus on “ nice life” as well as nice things. A community filled with decent souls who share and trust is very fitting. It’s part of what draw me back to this page.
DeleteAm starting to see this concept pop up more and more!
ReplyDeleteMakes sense when you consider the average apartment in NYC doesn't have a lot of space and may not offer much in the way of private storage.
ReplyDeleteThis is perfectly in line with the World Economic Forum's Agenda 2030, the ads for which say something like, "you will own nothing, and you will be happy." I certainly agree with downshifting rampant consumerism to sustainable levels and have no problem encouraging a gift and or sharing economy for those who are interested, but I'll be darned if I'm taking orders from a pseudo government advisement agency populated with the world's wealthiest individuals on what I will or won't own. Klaus Schwab can go pound sand.
ReplyDeleteHeidi, I believe you’re referring to this essay linked below. It’s a futuristic fantasy by one of the WEF’s “young leaders,” not really a blueprint of anything the group is actively pushing or has any ability to enforce. So relax.
Deletehttps://www.forbes.com/sites/worldeconomicforum/2016/11/10/shopping-i-cant-really-remember-what-that-is-or-how-differently-well-live-in-2030/?sh=4ab54ab31735
I’d be all for renting needed items, though we do already have most of what we need despite downsizing a year ago. We’re renting linens for our Vineyard house rental this year, rather than waste space packing our own, and we’re renting a car to use on the island for part of our stay. We no longer have our own car, living in the heart of NYC, but we use Zipcars pretty often.
Agree.
DeleteWhile this sounds really great, looks awesome on paper, this idea will quickly become a bad one once - inevitably - people start showing disregard for others, disrespect for public property - and items are not cared for, maintained, broken, etc. --Holly in PA
ReplyDeleteLet’s echo anonymous 1:06pm… “Uber” started out with their head in the clouds promoting shared rides. Turned out at least 75% of riders are solo, drivers can spend 40% of their time (often idling with engines running) awaiting assignments. This reported by Wall St Journal investigation. Think “Uber” has helped reduce traffic congestion?
DeleteI'll echo this as well. I buy the items I need for projects and living, but I'm highly reluctant to loan them out to others, even in many cases to other family members.
DeleteMoreover, my experiences with communally owned gear is that others trash it, leave things in disarray or uncleaned or not stored correctly, and so on. This attitude of neglect for things that are not your own is very widespread in human nature. The trait may be rare among this particular commentariat, but just look at the maintainence of public spaces in every large city.
Communism works only at the level of a tribe or band — basically everyone knows everyone else personally. When the group is larger than that — when it contains many people who are strangers to you — commonly held things are treated badly.
Maybe Communism works at a level of the tribe, etc.. But at that level, where everyone knows everyone else, there is another name for Communism, generosity. There will always be someone willing to work a little harder, either for their family or, for the less fortunate in the community.
ReplyDeleteJust never, ever think that communism is generosity when speaking of societies more complex than a tribe. The Plymouth Settlement approximated the size of a tribe, and William Bradford saw that communal ownership and working of land was leading them straight to extinction. So he ended it. Thus it will always be with humans.
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