The Greening of Gavin

Sharing: An Answer to Consumerism?

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Here’s a thought.  When it comes to all the stuff that you have in your home have a think about how often you use it.  Is is every day, is it once a week, or every couple of months?

Wouldn’t it be more logical to start sharing, borrowing, or hiring some of the more less frequently utilised things you have around your home.  It would certainly be less resource intense and better for the environment!

Take tools for example.  When I needed a nail gun to build my picket fence around my front orchard, I didn’t go out and buy one, I simply went down the tool shop and hired one with a compressor.  Once I was finished with it, I gave it back.  It was so much cheaper than getting my own.

Same goes for when I needed an impact drill to put some of the garden beds together.  I asked my friend Jake over who had all these tools already and paid him in home-brew beer.  In fact he actually helped put the beds together, because I wasn’t sure how to use it.

There was another time when we wanted to go on a family trip.  I had too many people to carry in my Honda Civic Hybrid, so I hired a larger people mover for the weekend.  I knew that I didn’t need that sized car all the time, so hiring was the way to go for this one-off need.

Another example are trailers.  You know, the ones that you tow behind your car and use once in a blue moon.  Not only that, they take up valuable growing space in one’s backyard.  Hiring would be the logical solution as long as you didn’t have to drive a country mile to find one.

So why do people buy stuff they only use every so often or only once in its lifetime.  Well, let me take a quote from a very interesting documentary titled Zeitgeist: Moving Forward at around the [1:41:20] mark.

Many forget that it’s isn’t the good that they want, it is the purpose of that good.  When we realise that the purpose of the good is only as important as its utility we see that external restriction or what we might today call ownership is extremely wasteful and environmentally illogical in a fundamental economic sense.

As Spock would say, its illogical Captain!

So what’s the solution?

Well there are a few solutions that you could take to avoid ownership of a seldom used item.

You could even go car-less if you live in larger cities.  For instance you could use a car share scheme like www.carnextdoor.com.au.  It’s a neighbourhood car sharing scheme available in Sydney and Melbourne which is much cheaper than owning a car.  There is even a cool app that helps you locate cars near you!

Why not hire tools and equipment from a reputable hire company or even ask you friends and neighbours if they have the tools you need.  At least with neighbours you can trade things for the use.

consumersharingashx

Source: https://www.choice.com.au/shopping/shopping-for-services/services/articles/consumer-sharing

Or you could check out a site like www.networkhire.net, a not for profit business who is trying to reduce the amount of wastage and blatant giving-in to consumerism. You can even put your own seldom used item on the site and make a bit of money from home!

What about food?  Got too much of a single fruit or veggie?  Why not try using a site like www.localharvest.org.au.  It has a map of other people like you who has too much produce and wants to either give it away or swap it for something else.

Got a spare room that you are not using?  Why not list it on AirBnB?  You might just enjoy the company and get a steady income stream in the process.

Too many clothes in the wardrobe, and want a new look?  Why not check out the Clothing Exchange.  You can take some of your clothes to an event and swap for new albeit slightly used ones, or swap online.  Its a great way to freshen up your style!

You could take it one step further and join the Community Exchange System.  It’s a community-based exchange system that provides the means for its users to exchange their goods and services, both locally and remotely.  There’s sure to be one near you.  You can even trade time and effort in return for goods without using money!

These are only a few suggestions, so why not chime in with some more in the comments section below.  I’m sure there are many more ways of sharing that I have missed!

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Amish Glider Rocker

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We now have one happy young lad, who simply loves to sit in his new rocking/glider chair and reading books in the evening!  Danni, our neighbour was giving away the glider on Freecycle and we popped over for some other reason and asked if we could take it off her hands.  “Gladly”, she said and now we are the proud owners of an Amish Glider with cusions.  I don’t know if it was really made by Amish people but from what I have seen on the net, the style is very similar

Kim gave the cusions a quick wash and Ben had it in his room within a day.  I can see many long and comfortable hours of use for this well constructed piece of furniture.  It certainly has made a 9 year old boy and Holly very happy.  I can’t wait until I can sit down again, so I can curl up and read a book whilst relaxing in it!

Freecycle is so cool, and so are nice neighbours!  Thanks Danni

Bartering Is Back

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I like bartering. It is far superior than using money, because of the obvious fact that you don’t need any to make a transaction between two parties. You only need to come to a joint consensus regarding the perceived value of the goods you are bartering.

So far this month, I have swapped;

  • a big bag of spinach for a bag of Meyer lemons
  • a big bag of spinach for three bags of wood ash (great for the compost bins)
  • lots of home cooked meals for big hugs from the family, and
  • about 200ml of petrol for 6 bags of organic coconut growing medium.
Lemons for hot lemon drinks to keep the colds away (working so far), wood ash as a source of potassium and other nutrients for the compost, hugs because I love them, and organic coconut stuff for the compost bins and for growing seedlings in. The last two might not really count, but I do think it was in the spirit of the bartering theme.


Bartering was invented way before the invention of a hard currency, and probably pre-dates civilisation itself, so in my books it must be good. Even better still, if you can get something legally for free, with no strings attached (like my wombling), then that is superior to bartering. As we begin to live, work and buy locally, bartering may become the norm. In fact, it may be the only way that transactions take place amongst locals, with national currencies becoming worthless. I have been reading a bit about Transition Towns of late, and especially about the original Transition town of Totnes in the UK, who’s residents and retailers have even begun to use their own homegrown currency in the form of the Totnes Pound note. Have a read about the concept of Transition Towns, because I believe they make a lot of sense to aid in a soft landing during and after the ‘energy decent‘ that is nearly upon us. I would love to help our local town to this stage, but am afraid that they are just not ready yet. I have been thinking long and hard as to whether to put my name down as a contact for interested parties in my area, and will probably bite the bullet soon, because I think that this type of project would be the next logical set in “The Greening of Gavin”. What I mean by that, is that my initial project of living sustainably now needs to grow into something bigger than just our family, and outwards into the local community. I am finding more and more that my initial epiphany, and subsequent actions, have become larger than the original spark that exploded in my mind on that wonderful day in 2006. Transition Towns projects have been proven to be able to do just that with the assistance of willing community members.

Over the last few months, whenever I get a chance, I ask my visitors (politely of course) if they have anything cool to barter for my excess vegetables. Last season, we gave away quite a few cucumbers, tomatoes, and some herbs and asked nothing in return, and didn’t expect anything either. This year, I am trying to drive a community spirit amongst my friends with this barter idea and see what happens. If it makes only one of them think green, then that is a good thing.

Kim is very active on our local freecycle, not so much swapping stuff, but giving stuff that we don’t need to people in need of those goods. Freecycle is a bit like eBay without the auction, and without any payment. There are some simple rules to follow, and that is about it. You are solely in charge of who you give your items to. Usually we get about 5 or 6 requests for any offers we put up, and choose who we think it should go to. It is a great concept and keeps so much stuff out of landfill, where it would have otherwise ended up. I think we both have been freecycle members for about 2 months and have given away the following items in great condition;
  • a video recorder
  • a fish tank
  • a dressing gown
  • a child’s city scape play mat
Tomorrow, Kim is placing a wanted ad up on freecycle for some chicken wire for the chook house. You never know, I may get lucky.

I wouldn’t mind finding a fellow home brew enthusiast who lives locally, so that we could swap beer samples. That would be cool as well, as it would be nice to compare another style of brewing to my own. I still have quite a few preserves left in the cupboard, so what ever is left just before the next crop comes in, I will see if I can barter the excess for other home made or grown foodstuffs in return. Really, I am only after homegrown produce, because I believe a lot of love goes into growing your own food, and it makes the prize so much more special, and in my mind, more valuable.

So. there are many ways to get what you are after without cold hard cash, and without resorting to credit cards. Of course, before engaging in bartering or Freecycle, still think long and hard as to whether you really need the item you lust after. In that way, you are not swapping one form of excessive consumerism for another!

Happy bartering, wombling, or Freecycling!