Page 12 - U4SSC Case study: Re-use of consumer goods and tools loaning, June 2020

person in six already a user. Almost one third of people who have been on collaborative platforms
have already provided a service at least once. That’s more than five per cent of the EU population
already providing products and services through such platforms. The collaborative economy is
sowing the seeds of growth (European Commission, 2016).

The collaborative economy, also known as the sharing economy, includes a new and improved
concept of flea markets and second-hand stores, where borrowing is encouraged over buying.

Originating in the United States, the Library of Things concept has been adopted in other countries:
examples include the Sharing Depot in Toronto, Canada and Leila in Berlin, Germany. These have
consequently inspired cash-strapped university friends, Rebecca Trevalyan, James Tattersfield and
Emma Shaw, who were anxious to establish a sharing economy in their local community, to open
up a Library of Things at the Upper Norwood Library Hub in Crystal Palace, South London (Library
of Things, 2015).
– Awareness campaigns

Initiatives such as the Transition Network, a community-led movement joining together to re-
imagine and re-create the world in a more sustainable way, create, deliver and help implement
sustainable programmes while connecting the local community. For example, the Crystal Palace
Transition Town is helping the local community to reclaim the economy, to spark entrepreneurship
and to re-skill themselves by weaving webs of connection and support (Transition Network, 2016).

In response to the trends listed above, the proposed solutions through the Library of Things project
are the following:

– Introducing the borrowing mind-set
The Library of Things has an extensive catalogue of carefully selected items in perfect condition
that the members can borrow for a small fee, mostly ranging from GBP 1 per day for hand tools and
GBP 5 per day for a bread machine to GBP 20 per day for a carpet cleaner, with discounts available
for regular borrowers and people who are less able to pay (Purdy, 2018).
– Competitive prices and quick service
To take one example, when people need to borrow a carpet cleaner for an event, they may have
several choices: buy a carpet cleaning machine (around GBP 130 upwards); pay for a professional
cleaning company (about GBP 40); rent a machine from a private hire firm (around GBP 29 for two
days); or borrow one from the Library one for GBP 9 (Balch, 2016). The Library of Things makes a
variety of products accessible to everyone.
– Reducing waste

To avoid people dumping almost-new items that have the potential to be refurbished, the Library
of Things put at the disposal of the community a space where the locals can bring their broken
items, which are then given a second life through the ‘repair café’. Furthermore, the repair café
offers skill-sharing classes where volunteers share their mending and repairing knowledge to enable
people to learn how to repair broken things in their household.

6 Case study: Re-use of consumer goods and tools loaning, June 2020