Access Not Ownership

It’s been a few years since I first read Rachel Botsman’s book, What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption. I am still struck by it, however. In this fascinating book, Rachel and her co-author, Roo Rogers, compile a ton of research into the new ways in which technology is making sharing of our assets, time, and talents more appropriate and doable.

One of the striking things that keeps popping into my head when I think about this new concept is that I have a power drill. Do you have a power drill lying about your house? Well, check this out: most power drills will only be run for a total of 12-13 minutes over the course of their lives. That means for the vast majority of the time I have this thing in my house, it will not be used. And that makes sense – after all, as Rachel points out – It’s not the drill I really want but the hole it can make. And how often do I really need new holes drilled?

Even if you don’t have a power drill, I’ll bet that you have a car. The average car costs somewhere around $8,000 a year to run; yet it sits idle for 23 hours a day. Most things we own have a large amount of idling capacity. The concept of collaborative consumption and the various services coming into existence to help us reduce this idling capacity and perhaps help us build stronger communities in the process.

So, I’ve taken to wondering just what do I need to own? Do I need to own a car? Do I need to own a bunch of tools for when I need holes drilled or painting done? The next time you’re considering a major purchase think about ways that you could gain access to the item without having to own it outright. Is there a way you could share it with someone? What if you and your neighbor go in together to buy a lawn mower that you both share? Or you can use the web to find someone who’ll share their car with you.

And consider the other side of the coin too. Do you have a bunch of things sitting around that others might use? Consider sharing.

In my next post I’ll go into a bit more detail surrounding the various types of collaborative consumption. I highly recommend checking out the book What’s Mine Is Yours, and if you don’t want to buy it check it out from the library; see you know how to do collaborative consumption already. If you’re short on time and you don’t want to read the book, at least watch the video of Rachel’s TEDx talk from Syndey in 2010. It’s available online on the TED website or on YouTube.