If you haven’t heard of the sharing economy here’s an official explanation from the CSO:
The sharing economy, also called the collaborative economy is based on shared resources, like a room, a service, reselling, a skill or a car, between individuals and facilitated by the internet, in its majority as a temporary exchange. Examples of these practices are Airbnb and Uber.
Now that we all know what it is, how can we play our part……it’s really easy and we are all already probably doing a lot already.
Think about it locally, what can you do
- Use public transport
- Use taxis
- Use hire cars such as Go Car or Yuko Ireland
- Use car-pooling websites such as Liftshare or Carpoolworld
- Use bike share schemes such as Now Bikes, TFI Share Bikes, Bolt, Moby Move, Bleeper Bikes, ESB Bikes
- Use your local library, they offer a lot more than just books
- Use plant hire services, rather than buying that cheap drill or sander that will be used once or twice get down you’re your local plant hire and rent one, you’ll be guaranteed to get the appropriate tools you need for the job
- Use the charity shops, not just as a dumping ground for things which have become rubbish to you, bring the good stuff that’s lying in the back of your wardrobe, if we all do this then there will be good stuff to purchase
- Use website such as advets.ie or donedeal if you’re doing a clear out, what you think is rubbish could be someone’s else’s treasure
Using these shared services have a few benefits, by sharing items it means we consume less because we need to produce less, it’s a great way to help build and support your local community, if we all [where possible] use public transport it means less cars on the road leading to a quicker commute and a reduction in air pollution.
It also disrupts capitalism by allow us, as individuals to consume less but helps to keep the economy alive because we are still spending money.In a world where we have finite resources the sharing economy just makes sense for the planet, your health and wellbeing and your community.
