Lifestyle
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What
Think of all those things that are collecting dust in your attic, garage, cupboards or bookshelves, under-used and under loved…
Stepladders to tents, halloween costumes to old travel guides: we buy so many things to use just once or twice; to think that your friends and neighbours are scouring through Amazon for identical things, only to be left to the same rarely used fate as yours! It's madness.
Open your Ali Baba's Cave and share those little used treasures with your friends, neighbours and colleagues.
Why
One way or another, everything we buy comes from the earth. But we only have one earth, and its resources are finite. Our current consumption habits are so unsustainable that if everyone were to live like us in the UK we'd need three planets to support us.
It doesn’t take a genius to realise that that’s not possible. By lending, loaning and borrowing more of our things, we can readjust the balance and reduce the strain on our limited natural resources.
How
If you're lending or loaning to a friend and you know what they want then it's simple – just hand it over. But if you're branching out a bit wider, then here are a few places that can help you:
Lending Libraries: these are libraries of things - from tents to tools - that are popping up in towns around the world. Find your nearest lending library.
Online communities: StreetBank is a website fostering community engagement and altruism by allowing you to share and borrow within your neighbours. Facebook local groups are also a hive of activity of lending, borrowing, and peer-to-peer trading - it's well worth joining your local area's group and seeing what you can contribute.
Host a Swap Shop: Whether at work, school, or in your local village hall - why not host a regular (seasonal or annual) swap shop. This is more about swapping than sharing, but the two often go hand in hand. Check out these tips on hosting a swap party.
Donate to charity If you no longer need it yourself, pass it on to a charity shop who can sell it on. Search for your local charity shops on the Charity Retail Trust website.
Donate your kids shoes: Sal's Shoes send pre-loved and outgrown children's shoes to barefoot children in communities around the world, and then share with you photos of them being worn by their new owners, smiles and all.
Bikes: Aside from city bike schemes, you can also list your own steed - whether it's a mountain bike or dutch bike - to rent out to neighbours or friends passing through using SpinLister
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