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| Sharing a trip to the Grand Canyon with my couchsurfing host, Amanda— 2011 |
We live in a finite world, with a finite number of resources. While some of these can be renewed, most cannot— and the energy it takes to shape them into useable objects is huge. With this in mind, anything we can do to lessen the burden on these resources is a big help to the planet.
Modern America is individualistic: we want to be self-sufficient, providing for all of our needs with the medium of money. But this isn't how people have lived for the thousands of years; practically every culture throughout history has relied on tightly-knit communities to meet the people's needs. As a bonus, sharing is a humbling and rewarding act that helps you grow much closer to people than you otherwise would.
The modern-day obsession with monetary-mediated "self-sufficiency" is taking a huge and needless environmental toll. We resist the cultural narrative and instead listen to our kindergarten teachers— we need to share!
BEGINNER:
Use the library. The library is one of the biggest hold-outs of sharing culture in the modern day, so be sure to make use of it! Even if you don't like books, you can check out movies, audiobooks, video games, music, and sometimes even telescopes, baking equipment, puzzles, and yoga mats. Check it out today!
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| Also beaches! |
Hang out in public places. In addition to the library, public places exist for the purpose of sharing. Eat your lunch in a town square. Meet up with friends at a city park, or take your kids to a playground. Go bird-watching in a conservation area, tour a historical site, or have a picnic. (If you're in St. Louis, spend all day wandering around our amazing free museums!) Appreciate that we can share these resources so that not everyone has to own everything.
Have a potluck. There is something special about gathering for a makeshift meal of disparate dishes; it draws a group of people together around a common (and tasty) goal, allowing you to rely on each other in tangible ways. Invite a few friends over, and tell them to bring containers for leftovers; everyone gets to take some home.
Host a swap meet with friends. This is similar to a potluck, but with material goods such as clothes, books, and household items; this prevents you from having to buy a bunch of new stuff! Remember the concept of embodied energy: the more times you can reuse items, the less strain you'll put on the environment.
Borrow before you buy. If you need a tool for a specific task, an item of clothing for a special occasion, or a book you really want to read, consider first whether it's something you can borrow from someone else (or, if you buy it, be willing to share with others).
INTERMEDIATE:
Lend to (and borrow from) your neighbors. Depending on the neighborhood, this may be commonplace or unheard of, but sharing our physical goods is not only good for the environment, it reminds us that we need to rely on other people. Tangible, neighbor-to-neighbor sharing is a good starting point for community resilience.
Use public transit. Forty people on a bus could keep as many as forty cars off the road— it's a wonderful example of sharing! See September's post for more suggestions.
Be a couchsurfing host. Airb&b is a wonderful invention, but I like the old-fashioned hospitality of couchsurfing: inviting travelers to stay at your house for free. If you have the personality for it, it's an incredible experience. The Couchsurfing website has a lot of safety features and accountability built into it, so even if you're timid, I encourage you to check it out! Read more about couchsurfing here, or head straight to the site to sign up: https://www.couchsurfing.com/.
Share knowledge. Do you know stuff? Share it with anyone who's interested! Whether this is teaching a sewing class, lecturing about 14th-century Chinese history, or showing someone how to cook a soufflé, commit to making knowledge accessible. (And be sure to learn from others, too!)
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| Sharing food is easy in summer! |
Join or start a toy library. Parents and babysitters, imagine a place where you could "check out" a play castle and a Lego set, then return them when your kid gets bored. They do exist— toy libraries! This is yet another example of items that are best when shared. Do a Google search for "toy libraries near me," and if none are around, take that as your cue to get started. Here are some good tips.
Host a swap meet with the community. This is just a bigger version of a swap meet with friends; see these tips for getting started on a community scale.
Rideshare. Young, car-less people get to be experts at cramming as many people into a car as possible for a trip, but as we get older we assert our independence and start driving alone. This is a destructive tendency that we need to stop. Any time you use a car, see if there's someone you can share it with— can you pick up a couple groceries for your neighbor, combine errands, get a ride with someone else going to the same event?
ADVANCED:
Create a regular skillsharing event. Want to facilitate people in your community sharing their knowledge? Consider creating a free event for people to learn new skills! Check out this tutorial to get you started.
Start a tool library. Like a toy library, this is a community structure that allows you to share tools, especially specialty tools that you only need once. New Dream has some wonderful resources to help you launch your own initiative.
Get a roommate. In America from 1973 to 2015, the average house size has grown by 1,000 square feet, while the average number of people per household has dropped from 3.01 to 2.54— in other words, the living space for an average person has nearly doubled! Bigger houses mean more energy per person burned, often needlessly. Getting a roommate can be a good way to share resources in a mutually beneficial way, so if you have a spare bedroom that only gets used twice a year for guests, this is something to seriously consider.
Join an intentional community. We've come a long way from the communes of the 60s (although they do exist, too): an intentional community is any group of people living close to each other that has sharing as one of its core values. Although this may be in an isolated, pre-fabricated center, it can also just be the equivalent of a neighborhood group who commits to sharing tools, time, babysitting skills, cooking, and other things. Zero Waste Chef introduced me to this idea, and I've been intrigued ever since! To find one near you, check out this directory: https://www.ic.org/directory/
Which of these challenges would you like to take on this month? What would you add to the list?
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Previous posts in this series:
Celebrate Sensibly (December)
Cultivate Skills (January)
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