Sharing: a new economic force

I believe the idea of “collaborative consumption” is gaining a lot of traction in the marketplace; this message of “sharing” hits the nail of “environmental consciousness”. Already companies like Airbnb, Zipcar, Swaptree, and so many others present consumers with opportunities to share anything from seeds to houses.

A sharing economy has so many benefits. It saves consumers money, it reduces waste, and it forms stronger societies.

I believe Annie Leonard said it best in her 2013 video “The Story of Solutions”. Our world seems to be trapped in this game of “More”. The purpose of the collaborative consumption movement is to change the game to “Better”.

“Just like a game, our economy was designed by people to get everyone to play by certain rules,” Leonard said. “And like a game, it comes with instructions telling us what the goal is."

Each decision made by individuals, groups, businesses, and governments serves to improve the GDP. Instead of concentrating on that number, we should concentrate on the impact we make.

Author Rachel Botsman says that we live in “global village” that enables us to make connections with strangers online and share our belongings easily.

#66 Join the movement. Share something on a collaborative consumption website. Even if that is just adding (correct) information to a Wikipedia article.