There’s a new sharing-based movement underway, and it’s ramping up—fast. It leverages the power of technology-enabled networks to help us use existing resources with greater intelligence and efficiency. It is disrupting traditional patterns of consumer behavior, while replacing them with fresh, community-based alternatives. Simply put, it’s a new form of economy, where consumers share, lend, trade, and swap products instead of own them. You may have heard of Zipcar, the car-share service, or Roomorama, the online marketplace for short-term accommodations. These companies are perfect examples of the share economy, which is turning business on its ear across sectors from social lending to peer-to-peer transportation, clothing swaps to coworking, and more.
Author and Entrepreneur Lisa Gansky first introduced me to this new economic and social phenomena in January 2010. I had the pleasure of working with her for just over a year while she wrote and published her book The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing (Portfolio Penguin 2010). With an academic background in environmental studies, I became an instant fangirl (in the best possible sense of the word). The share economy seems to be the most promising way to live an efficient and fulfilled life on the planet—sans all the junk, and the detrimental effects its production and lifecycle has on our environment. For a product or service to exist in the share economy, it must have various essential qualities: durability, classic design, adjustability, and “share-ability.” (Sorry, your gas guzzling jalopy just won't cut it in a peer-to-peer car-sharing service.) In the share economy, we don’t have to rely on words that have been rendered essentially meaningless from overuse, such as “sustainable” and “green,” to describe an earth-friendly offering. The proof is in the pudding.
And so, after a terrific run as Lisa’s program manager at www.meshing.it, and my subsequent move from the City by the Bay (San Francisco) to the City of Lakes (Minneapolis), it came as no surprise that ideas about sharing-based organizations and activities kept floating to the top of my mind. Then I got to thinking: How can I put my knowledge about the share economy to use?
Enter encommon, a year-long project in which I will attempt to conduct my life as fully as possible within the share economy—with one caveat. I will integrate sharing strategies into my day-to-day life within reason. Ultimately, it is my intention for this sharing-based lifestyle to extend beyond the life of encommon. The project is not designed to be a life study that I might make it through by the skin of my teeth; it's about making deliberate changes to my real life.
So for the next year, I will explore and try to use many of the hundreds of organizations that provide unique ways for individuals to become more connected to their communities and make better use of existing resources. And I will share my experiences with you here on encommon.
You might wonder, Why now?
The time is ripe. Faced with building a life and starting a career in this recession, my peers and I are discovering that there are countless new ways to re-imagine how we work and play and shape our communities. I want to find out whether the share economy will truly help us re-value what matters most, so I’ve prepared myself to meet the challenges of living a sharing-based life in a (sometimes very chilly) mid-sized city with creativity and gusto.
Thank you for being here. I hope at times to inspire you to try something new and to learn from you in return. Please keep in touch!
Warmest wishes,
Jessica
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