Collaborative consumption - it's about sharing things

Have you heard of collaborative consumption? It's all about sharing things. Here's a definition from www.collaborativeconsumption.com/the-movement: 

Collaborative Consumption describes the rapid explosion in traditional sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting, and swapping reinvented through network technologies on a scale and in ways never possible before.

Social innovator, Rachel Botsman, has written a book on this topic called What's mine is yours. She also speaks around the world to spread the message about examples of sharing and exchange between people and how it makes better use of resources and builds community. Watch the video to learn more about it.

Collaborative consumption is happening in South Australia in lots of different ways in the non-profit sector - here are some examples:

• Adelaide South West Community Centre - lends a variety of items such as kitchen and gardening items, Petanque balls, sac truck, electric drill, wheel barrow 
• Adelaide LETS - exchanging goods and services with each other without using money
• Angle Park Tool Library - garden tools and equipment for hire for maintenance of home gardens
• Community Gardens in SA - people working together on shared land to create gardens
• Freecycle - offer things you don't need to people who can use them
• Food swaps in SA - sharing and swapping surplus from home and community gardens
• Sustainable Communities SA Inc. - helping people to share home garden space to grow food locally

We'd love to find out more about activities around Australia involving sharing of resources, equipment and anything else - please let us know what you're doing and be a part of our April SAcommunity News feature!