Sharing as a Lifestyle

Sharing as a lifestyle, especially in our current economic climate seems to be attracting more people to it all the time. More of a need to tighten up the financial aspects of our lives has prompted more people to find ways to live in a more efficient and inexpensive way.

As an Outpost Natural Foods employee, I have become exposed to a number of people implementing the sharing lifestyle in an attempt to save money while still having the ability to access all of the various things they need on a daily basis to sustain their lives adequately. Through this lifestyle many people are finding all of their living needs met. Some of the ways to go about this are as follows as I found and read about in the July issue of "Natural Awakenings", a free publication we carry at Outpost Natural Foods.

Car Sharing

Co-ownership of a vehicle is one way to share the expense of car maintenance, gas, auto insurance, and many of the other things that go along with owning and maintaining a car. It takes some of the stress of automobile issues from individual owners by sharing all of the responsibilities of the vehicle.

Yard Sharing

Co-working a yard is a way to share gardening resources like gardening skills, space, time, and tools between those interested in the various aspects of all things yardlike. In this way neighborhoods can become more self sustaining and resilient, food can be grown organically and locally and these skills can be taught to the kids living in that community, while keeping them healthy by eating these foods.

Tool Libraries

As a single mom of eight, I will most definitely be looking into whether or not my own community has a tool library nearby. Tool libraries enable members of the community to access various tools, as well as many types of instructional information generally free of charge.

Microfinance

Numerous aspects of financial assistance can be gained through microfinance, an innovative way to work capitalism to our benefit. Financial assistance brought to action in this way has given the poorest people of our planet a way to lift themselves up from poverty and gain a better standard of living. In fact, a nonprofit organization called Kiva, operating peer-to-peer in microfinance, initiates no interest loans to to the entrepreneurs in under developed nations in an attempt to share the world's wealth.

The Internet

One of the most powerful tools of our current times is the internet. Often unappreciated and taken for granted, this avenue of sharing all types of resources is a powerful tool filled with potential in the success of planet sharing. As an entity of it's own, without an owner, it operates on free, open sourced software with standards that are open. Non-profit companies that rely on the "fair use" structure like search engines, social media and web hosting has generated a whopping 4.7 trillion yearly. That translates to a sixth of our country's gross domestic product.

Source: July 2011 issue of Natural Awakenings magazine