Collective consumption — save money and the environment

Digital Journal

Collective consumption is a new trend for our credit crunch times. According to proponents, it saves money, is good for the environment and brings communities together.

Collective consumption refers to sharing, borrowing, swapping or renting equipment and skills. Rather than buy a ladder or an expensive tool which you might only need once a month why not borrow one? Don’t splash out on a formal dress you are only going to wear once, rent one.

Websites are springing up which encourage people to lend or rent their belongings to their neighbours. These include streetbank , bidandborrow , ecomodo and swap.

Lynn Bunniss, 50, set up a collective consumption site last September called The Borrowers.

She believes it is a new form of recycling and hopes that in these cash strapped times collective consumption will appeal to more and more people as a way of saving money, making money and reducing their carbon footprint.

(Read more: digitaljournal.com/article/303738.)