yours2share - sharing stuff & collaborative consumption » sharing

2011: my sharing year

sophie — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:58:25 +0000

Sharing, or “Collaborative Consumption” as it is often now called, really started to gain traction in 2011. I started yours2share in 2006 and frankly most people thought I was insane. Now I hear about new sharing related websites daily and it seems like all my friends and relations are busy Couchsurfing, AirBnB-ing, freecycling, car clubbing, co-working etc. If you want to know more about Collaborative Consumption, I highly recommend Rachel Botsman and Roo Roger’s book “What’s Mine Is Yours: How Collaborative Consumption is Changing the Way We Live”

I am now heavily involved in several other areas of collaborative consumption as well as yours2share. I run a co-working group Norwich Jelly which enables homeworkers, freelancers, self employed and anyone working on their own to co-work together once a month in Norwich, Norfolk. This is part of an international network of Jellys. Most people, like me, work on their own from home, but we’ve seen an increase in professional people with full time jobs based entirely home. Everyone appreciates a day when they can interact with people, laugh a little and share ideas, hints and tips.

I’ve also helped to set up a LETS (Local Exchange Trading System) in the Chet Valley, my local area of Norfolk, which enables local people to trade goods and services for a local “virtual” currency. Our system is still very new, but I’m encouraged at the enthusiasm with which it has been greeted so far.

Finally, we’ve had a few more couchsurfing visitors and they’ve all been a pleasure to have staying with us. We are planning trips to Berlin and to Italy next year and I’m hoping to surf a few couches whilst we are there!

And on that note, I’ll wish a healthy, happy and collaborative New Year.

Sharing law

sophie — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 16:25:32 +0000

I recently found a couple of great posts on Shareable.net by Janelle Orsi about how greater sharing will need changes to the law. Lawyers will also need to develop the contacts and frameworks for many aspects of sharing.

The first piece is called the birth of sharing law and examines the wide range of sharing initiatives that people are now trying out. As these become increasingly mainstream, some will definitely require some amendments to the law. The second article looks at some specific areas that lawyers are examining, particularly things like:

how to get small amounts of funding from large numbers of people, say 200 people investing $100 in a cafe, without needing to go through a complicated compliance process
how to handle the taxation of bartering
how landsharing works on a large scale
who is the employer and who is the employee in a worker-owned co-op

So far, goodwill, sensible discussion before starting to share, and the small scale of sharing means has been little litigation. But as the sharing concept grows, the laws and contracts governing the arrangements need to evolve. I think they will.

Couch surfing

sophie — Wed, 26 May 2010 18:17:35 +0000

Several months ago I stumbled upon the website couch surfing, a worldwide network for making connections between travellers and the local communities they visit. (According to Wikipedia, couch surfing is the practice of moving from one friend’s house to another, sleeping in what ever spare space is available, floor or couch, generally staying a few days before moving onto the next house.) Couch surfing, with its community ethic, accords well with yours2share and my views.

So I signed up and put a few things on my profile and, well, I’ll admit, I forgot about it. Then a couple of weeks I received a message from Jeff and Gerda who live in Canberra and who wondered if they could stay with us as they cycled through Norfolk. Explaining this to my partner was a bit tricky: he didn’t quite get it. I was perfectly happy to make excuses and remove our profile and say no more, but he did at least have the courtesy to read Jeff and Gerda’s profile. Then he realised that maybe this would be OK and agreed to let them stay with us.

They stayed for one night on Monday. They were perfect house guests and lovely company. This is a fantastic idea. I love travelling, but hate the anonymity of staying in hotels. Hotels are great for a lovely break, but moving from hotel or hotel (or bed and breakfast) constantly is very wearing not only because of the constant moving, but because they are all the same. You learn very little about the place you are staying in and don’t experience what it is like to live there. I usually try and stay with friends when I travel not just because it is cheaper, but because I learn more and enjoy finding out what it is like to live in that country. You can’t really do this if you are staying in a hotel.

My partner’s just asked me if anyone else is coming to stay!

Why share?

sophie — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:06:16 +0000

We all have some fairly expensive assets that we rarely use: second, third or fourth cars that sit unused outside our house for all but an hour a week, swimming pools that are used twice a week, second homes we try to visit once a month, boats we make ourselves sail six times a year to justify keeping them, motor homes cluttering our drives for fifty weeks a year, plus all the sports and gardening equipment filling our cupboards sheds in case we suddenly have the urge to lift some weights or trim our hedges.

Amazingly most people accept this huge waste of resources, hoping they can continue to justify keeping them in their expensive sheds for their annual outing.

But now everyone is reconsidering their finances: some wonder if they can generate a little income or release some capital. Can they their assets work harder for them and still be there when they want them?

What if you could find one or two like-minded people that you trust? Would you consider selling them a share or agreeing a long term rental arrangement where they use the item (say) once a month? Until recently people only found sharing partners through serendipity: at a dinner party, through a friend, or a chance advert at the newsagent.

yours2share enables you to find like-minded partners in an organized manner. Advertise for partners to share just about any asset: property, boats, aircraft, horses, dogs, gardens, swimming pools, motor homes, cars, and so on. For example, if you have a second home, you can advertise to sell a half share or to rent it for a week a month. Or if you’re looking for a second home, you can advertise for people to join you in buying your dream cottage, or find someone with a second home from whom you can rent or buy a share.

Once you’ve found your partners, you need to invest sufficient time (several hours and several meetings) at the beginning to discuss everything properly and negotiate the agreement. This process will establish whether or not you are sufficiently like-minded and compatible: consider the contract as proof of this. For property and any major financial asset you should always take independent professional legal advice (and sometimes financial and tax advice as well). If you’ve already agreed everything, then the legal checks should be relatively inexpensive.

As well as the financial benefits, sharing is also environmentally friendly. It makes much better use of resources and, because the running costs are shared, shared assets are often maintained to the highest (environmentally friendly) standard, to the pride of their owners. Often the higher standard of maintenance means the asset is safer too.

However the greatest pleasure of sharing doesn’t usually strike people until they’ve been doing it for some time. This is the sense of community and of shared responsibility. Whenever I speak to people in private syndicates, even the most cynical, hard-nosed “I never share anything, but my wife talked me into this” men will tell me how lovely it is to have found three (say) great “friends” who love this wonderful boat/property/aircraft as much as he does, and how fantastic it is to have pals to share the management and maintenance issues with. They tell me how extraordinary this is. I smile, because it is ordinary for well designed private syndicates to be extraordinary.

Relayrides & car sharing

sophie — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:37:52 +0000

Here is another great article from shareable.net (would you share a car with a stranger?) outlines some of the ground breaking car sharing schemes being tried out in the US (astonishing really, as prising the average American out of his SUV isn’t something most of us would attempt, let alone ask him to let someone he didn’t know drive it.) This is a proper discussion of some really innovative and challenging new ideas to get people to make better use of these very expensive and totally underused resources, our cars.

I’ve always thought that informal car clubs, or private syndicates should work well and there is plenty of guidance about this on yours2share, but it takes a while for the groups to form and for word to get around that it can actually work well. I also must admit that of all the private syndicate types, they are some of the more complex to negotiate and set up, although there are organisations that can help you to do this, look at CarClubs for ideas. Furthermore the kind of people who are likely to do this, are often those that cannot afford any unexpected costs or pay for legal advice: potential partners in many boat, property, or aircraft schemes can.

One of the options discussed is RelayRides, the first person-to-person car-sharing service, which will be launching soon in Baltimore. What this means is that if your car is unused for much of the time, you can register it with RelayRides for other people to use in return for a fee. You define the periods when it is available for use, and how much you want to charge. RelayRides sorts out a smartcard which allows the renting person access. There are ebay-like reviews of both renters and owners so that people are incentivised to look after the car, and make sure it is clean and well maintained.

It’s a great idea, but also extraordinary! If it takes off, it will have created a shift in people’s mindsets equivalent to that created by ebay (how do I know that a complete stranger will send me the goods for which I’ve just paid them?) or house swapping (so I’m going to let a complete stranger stay in my house, and go and stay in their house?), both of which are now utterly mainstream. I shall watch RelayRides with great interest and everything crossed.

Eco Chic

sophie — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:11:32 +0000

Eco Chic followed me on Twitter earlier today and, as you do, I went to see who they are. I’m delighted to see an eco friendly website that doesn’t perpetually ram home the cycling, recycling, hair shirt existence (I know this isn’t fair, but sometimes it can feel that way). You can enjoy the good things in life as well as have consideration for the environment. I think Eco Cic and yours2share have this ethos in common.

Whilst second homes and yachts are usually an anathema to environmentalists, perhaps yours2share can help ensure that at least they are used for often, and not left empty most of the time.

Floating offices

sophie — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:08:49 +0000

Not a straightforward sharing proposition, but these novel floating offices could enable people to make much greater use of marina space. And what a great place to have an office.

I’m busily working on my new office for yours2share at the moment and offices with a great view are close to my heart. Fortunately yours2share’s new office overlooks a very pretty garden: I’m looking forward to moving in.

Growth does not equal happiness

sophie — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 14:11:16 +0000

I read with interest this post on the monbiot blog I’ve recently discovered about an interview with Lord Turner in the Guardian. Lord Turner is the head of the Financial Services Authority and is quoted as saying: “All the evidence shows that beyond the sort of standard of living which Britain has now achieved, extra growth does not automatically translate into human welfare and happiness.”

For the last 50 odd years we all appear to have been enslaved to the view that the only true measure of success is growth. Growth of individual companies, the stock market, the economy is taken to mean growth in our standard of living and our happiness. In the last 20 years it has become increasingly obvious that once you get to a certain level, this isn’t so. One can only consume so much.

On a small scale, I had become aware that something was out of kilter in my own life. I run a local networking group for women (WIRE – Women in Rural Enterprises). All the literature and emphasis of the national bodies tend to focus on conditions for growth of small businesses. But speaking to a great many owners of small businesses, most simply want to achive a certain level and stay there, or maintain the perfect level they have already attained. Many don’t want to employ staff: they just want to take people on contract when they need them. Growth beyond a specific point simply means that they no longer have time for their family or the rest of their life, and why would they consider trading this for money they don’t actually need and can’t actually spend, because they no longer have the time.

In yours2share world, the increase in sharing and private syndicates is further evidence that people are shifting from the long held view that ownership is king. People are starting to consider only buying what they need. At the same time, many syndicate owners also get to own part of a better asset than they would enjoy if they bought outright. As sharing becomes more established, people will also realise that the community of like-minded syndicate partners is a further benefit.

I think that once you have reached the standard of living that Britain has now achived, the route to greater human welfare and happiness is about strengthening communities and environmental harmony. Sharing has a role in this.

Sharing taxis

sophie — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:55:52 +0000

This post on the sharing solution caught my eye: New App for Cab Sharing Could Help Travelers Share and Save.

I’m reminded of a time many years ago (long before yours2share time) when I used to stagger back on Friday night to south west London after a night out in town. I often caught the last train to Surbiton, which arrived about 1am, the last train to the place I actually lived left ridiculously early in the evening. Then I had to take a cab the last four miles. It cost about £5, but that didn’t bother me much, the main problem was most of south west London also used this train. It was the best way of getting back late at night to that part of the capital. So at 1am, there would often be a queue of a 100 people, and although the taxi drivers knew there were rich pickings to be had, there were never enough.

After spending an hour or so waiting a couple of times, there came a time when, fueled by a particularly large helping of wine, I shouted from the back of a very long queue, “is anyone going to Thames Ditton or beyond?” Suddenly sense prevailed. I joined up with two or three other people and I was in a cab a few minutes later. Behind me, I could hear “anyone going to Esher?” “I’m going to Weybridge..” “Walton anyone?”. From then on, whenever I arrived at this queue, I just asked the question and each time it would start the same chain reaction.

As far as the taxi driver was concerned, they always seemed to do well. Everyone was expecting to pay the fare themselves, so any reduction was good news, so often people would put far more in than the actual proportion of the fare required. Tips were always substantial. What I call a win, win, win!

So the question is, how to get people to think about sharing?

Promoting social inclusion

sophie — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:56:46 +0000

Yet another article about how to design for social cohesion on shareable.net’s excellent website has got me thinking.

I’ve always hated the stupidity of planners’ love of zoning: separating work, home, retail and play so that everyone has to travel to do the basic things of life. This has created suburban mazes where to only winner is the car manufacturer. In one of my previous lives I was a public transport market researcher working with public transport engineers and economists, and we saw people trying to find public transport solutions to ridiculous traffic congestion caused by planning idiocy. This zonal approach has had many dismal effects including a reduction in social cohesion caused by isolation, and the environmental and social (time wasted) dis-benefits of commuting and having to drive to achieve anything.

I’ve long been the odd one of my friends: choosing to take the train or bus if it is easier. And although I know live in deepest rural Norfolk (UK), where you really do need to own a car, I live in the centre of a small town. London friends who come and visit are quietly impressed by the fact that my butcher, supermarket, doctor, dentist, pharmacy and lost more are all a few doors away. Opposite is the bus to Norwich which takes 20 minutes. I do have a car, but I don’t use it much. As a result, we are quickly getting to know the people who live around us, and we’ve only been here three months. When I travel to London, which I do once or twice a month, I use the train. It’s very civilised: I lots of work done, or read the paper, or sleep, or chat to other passengers. You can’t do this in the car.

I hadn’t until today really linked my irritation with the reliance on the car and wish for social cohesion, to my strong instinctive wish to encourage as much sharing as possible. But I realise that it is the same pull to greater social cohesion. Every syndicate member I ever speak to tells me about the great community, shared responsibility, good buddies with a love of the same boat/car/horse/whatever. Sharing, even in small private syndicates, creates communities. By encouraging private syndicates, yours2share is creating communities and doing its bit for greater social cohesion.