We have smaller families in bigger houses than 40 years ago, though we still do not have enough space to store everything we own. We have houses full of gadgets and appliances. Most of them we hardly use. Some of them are still in the packaging. Boxes are stuffed, our attics are full, the doors of our closets won’t close anymore and there is an exponential growth in the number of storage units.
We have too much stuff!
The big question is if we should own products that might be useful once in a while. We might as well share them, have access to them when we need to and thereby create more space in our house and lower our environmental impact.
We are already used to sharing books through libraries, dvds through video renting and sports equipment through gyms. So why does everyone in our street need to own a lawnmower, a power drill and an electric hedge trimmer? Tools we do not use daily.
Sharing facilities are upcoming. More people start using facilities like Greenwheels and Zipcar where you can rent a car when you need one. Or www.ecosharing.net and www.isharestuff.org where you can share and borrow appliances, tools and gadgets. We need a general change of mind: from ownership to access and use.
Let’s think carefully about everything we buy - do we actually need it or do we just need to use it. Let’s make sure we don’t store what we don’t need to own.
By Lieke Heijnis
