Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak at the Thriving Neighbourhood Conference in Melbourne about collaborative consumption, and why I think it has a role to play in our future thriving neighbourhoods and communities. Here is a little of what I had to say…

As a business model, Collaborative Consumption has the potential to change the way we consume. It represents a fundamental challenge to the prevailing top-down consumption model - there is no merchant or middle man and individual private ownership is no longer the end goal, rather “access” is.

In regards to online peer-to-peer marketplaces the platform does not itself have an inventory, rather its primary role is to optimise what YOU as a member have - be that time, space, skills or tools. If a marketplace is working effectively it can match online what you have, with someone that needs it offline.

…what I see as the ‘secret sauce’ of collaborative consumption businesses, and why I believe they have the potential to play a transformational roles in our communities, is that their very basis is people. And the primary purpose of these platforms (and the hallmark of whether they are a successful business or not) is to connect people so that their needs can be meet in an efficient way. I believe this flows directly into some of the elements that I think are crucial to a thriving community - connectedness and collaboration. …

As a social movement I believe collaborative consumption has the potential to change the way we live offering us greater flexibility, a greater sense of empowerment over our own lives and far more daily connections.

Wow- super psyched to see so many self challenges on the sustainability front and the connections forming through our recommendations on both the people to go for help and also the items front.

It really is a testament to community action and what we can do.

For those of you who have been keen on up-cycling, community gardening, greening your living and so on, feel free to check out:

Green Renters, the place to learn about how to green your renting experience Reverse Garbage, a supersized warehouse of things of all kinds just waiting to be reused

Transition Bondi, a passionate group of people looking to create change in food security, waste processing, localised economies and more

And if you need any more connections, by all means let us know!

The lucky winners for this week are:

Living Greener with green dream of “I dream of greening by helping people to take practical low cost actions at home”

Mustbethrifty with green dream of “I dream of greening by erecting a food hedge between me and the multiple lanes of traffic in front of my house.”

Gotta love the green dream! CONGRATULATIONS! And 

It’s the final week of our competition and this time around it’s all about self promotion baby!

We know that a lot of people join the Open Shed community and have a hard time making their first listing (or their listing pop) whether that is for a Wanted or something you wish to rent to others so this is what we are going to do.

Our marketer Rebekah will be online on Twitter to review your listings personally and give you feedback on how to make the most of your listing, give you advice and generally get you started. She’ll also take your personal feedback on your Open Shed experience, ideas you might have- heck even crazy Wanteds.

That’s right- you will get one on one advice from someone who knows a thing or two about words and marketing so you can make the most out of your Open Shed experience!

Rebekah will be online from 10am to midday and again from 2pm to 4pm on Tuesday the 16th October to give you personal advice on how you can make the most out of Open Shed- and at the end the of the day will give 3 subscriptions away of the Green Lifestyle magazine to the person with the most creative, sustainable and/or helpful Listing, Wanted or profile!

All you need to do is:

1. Hit Rebekah up on Twitter via www.twitter.com/openshed and use the tag #openshedme so she can spot you OR
2. Hit Rebekah up on Facebook and reply to the day’s status with your questions

Nice!

This is a ONE day event from 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 4pm AEST on Tuesday 16th October via Twitter and Facebook. Get your advice and your last chance at a Green Lifestyle Magazine subscription! 

Green Renters is a not for profit charity that helps renters in Australia gain much needed information, education and assistance with sustainability in rental accommodation. The brain child of Cate Lawrence and Chris Ward, Green Renters works with people in all rental markets including standard rental, social housing and rooming houses through practical solutions and support.

Focusing on empowering the renter through workshops, campaigns, information and advice, Green Renters takes ownership away from body corporate and owners and gives renters the tools they need to help green their rental experience. The idea for Green Renters came from a very simple yet common place occurrence- personal need.

“We were renting a 120 year old property and we became very aware we needed to do something to save money on our energy bills as well as our energy consumption for the planet. We went to a green living expo and there was nothing for renters. No one cared if you couldn’t buy the big, permanent products and solutions associated with home ownership. We looked around and couldn’t see anyone else doing anything so we started a blog. We got a huge amount of interest. So much interest we were amazed at just how many people wanted the same things we did. People were asking for workshops, for help and solutions and facing the same problems we were. So we got incorporated, we set up a board and started doing the first real research into the needs of green renters and devising ways we could give them tangible solutions and support their green renting journey,” explains Cate. 

Green Renters comes from a place of understanding the frustrations attached to budget, the delicate balance between respecting the owners wishes in regards to property and the desire for the renter to live sustainability. From teaching people how to insulate their rentals through sealing cracks and gaps, helping with advice on what home heating and cooling products to buy, how to save money on utilities and even helping with practical ways to reduce food wastage in the home, Green Renters has come a long way from their early blog days. They’ve run countless workshops, shown people how to preserve food, make their own green house cleaning products and run an expo for social housing to help people with practical advice on how to save money and truly enjoy and have fun with their homes by adding their own personal stamp. They’ve also run an Green Renters International Student Sustainability challenge and  projects within a range of inner city rooming houses. Such dedication has seen them become a national programme and the recipient of the 2011 WWF Earth Hour Education Award.

Operating on small grants, a percentage of the workshop fees and through public donation and membership, Green Renters is very much a people power organisation that does a lot with very little. Volunteers help carry the Green Renters message across the country and the team make use of every day tools such as Skype and file sharing clouds to stay connected and social media to stay in contact with members. Still the interest keeps coming as people from the USA, UK and Europe seek out Green Renters for advice, leadership and a way to make their rental lives sustainable.

“30% of people in Australia rent, with 70% of our major cities being made up by renters. Yet renters often feel unwelcome in green building culture and home sustainability, and feel as though they are on the outside looking in. It’s an area where cost matters because making major improvements to a rental property just isn’t feasible financially or due to the permanent nature of most solutions. Or they worry about push back from the property owners or real estate and so on. Our aim is to skill people up so they can make a change for themselves in a low cost, effective, tangible and positive way. We want to give people tangible outcomes, practical ways to take action and tempt those who have not considered green renting before to consider it as a viable option,” said Cate.

To find out how you can green up your renting experience, or if you would like to support Green Renters through a donation of time, money or resources, head to http://www.greenrenters.org

The community that you want starts at your front door

This Sunday is Australia’s 10th Neighbour Day - its a day to connect or reconnect with our neighbours and remember that our communities can only be as strong as the people who live in them. The catalyst for the first ever Neighbour Day was the sad and lonely death of an elderly Melbourne woman, who passed away in her home in 2001 but was not discovered for two years. Neighbour Day founder, Andrew Heslop, first suggested the day in a Letter to the Editor of The Age after wide spread media coverage of the death, and 10 years on the day continues to grow!

Taking part in Neighbour Day is as simple as saying ‘hello’ to a neighbour in the street, inviting them over for a cuppa or putting on a neighbourhood BBQ. There are plenty of planned activities taking place all around Australia that you can participate in and it is more than likely your local council will have organised an event, so check out their website.

One of the aims of Neighbour Day is to strengthen communities and build better relationships with the people who live around us. This is also one of the aims of Open Shed. With Open Shed Duncan and I hope to encourage communities to reconnect through sharing.

Our communities are incredibly rich with resources, skills and time, but it can be difficult to bring these all together. We think Open Shed can help with this by getting the conversation started and taking some of the friction out of sharing.

What do I mean by this?

It can seem a daunting leap to move from an occasional head nod to your neighbour in the elevator, to knocking on their door and asking whether they have a drill you can borrow for a couple odd jobs. But if your neighbour is on Open Shed you can already tell that they (1) have a drill (2) are open to other people using it. You can simply send them a message and rental requests via the site, rather than worrying what is the best time to knock on their door. AND then you can meet up in person and collect the drill.

When I talk about “friction” I mean the concerns that can arise when we think about sharing our stuff. Common ones for an owner can be what if they break it? Will I ever see it again? While a borrower can be uncertain about reciprocity issues - does this mean next time they ask to borrow something of mine I have to lend it to them? Do I need to buy them a thank you present? Is this worth a 6 pack or a case in the beer economy? Start thinking about all this and it can seem easier just to go and buy it yourself!

Through Open Shed the fuzzy bits of sharing, which can make us a little uncertain about participating, are made clearer. For example, an Owner sets out their expectations of how an item is to returned and what is to be paid if the item is broken (by listing a bond). And a potential borrower can see what rental fee the owner has listed (its probably a lot less than the beer economy dictates anyway!). They request the item for a certain period of time and once that comes to an end the site will remind them to return it.

Sure it may seem “transactional”, but everyone involved has a clear idea of where they stand, so the actual sharing is more likely to take place. And the above concerns don’t need to be discussed, rather the in person exchange time can be put to better use with some neighbourly chit chat!

So this weekend, take some time to think about the stuff that you have that you would be happy to lend to your neighbours - tools, ladders, vacuum cleaners etc - list on Open Shed AND then let your neighbours know!

Duncan and I hope everyone has a fabulous Neighbour Day. We would love to hear if you have anything planned or any stories that arise from the day….