Lauren Anderson is a writer and Project Director, building the movement of Collaborative Consumption which describes the rapid explosion in traditional sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting, and swapping redefined through technology and peer communities.

In every kitchen cupboard, wardrobe, study or garage there lies a spur-of-the-moment purchase, long forgotten and gathering dust. For me, it’s a yogurt-maker I bought in an effort to be more aware of what I was eating. But when the health fad died, my yogurt-maker was relegated to a top kitchen cupboard only to be found when I next move house. This story is a universal one – how else can we explain the 53,000 personal storage facilities in the United States alone? It is in these storage facilities that we banish the household items we no longer have need for, but can’t quite bring ourselves to throw away. But as author Clive Hamilton states, “The difference between the stuff we buy and what we use is waste.” Thankfully, the material and financial potential of these pre-loved, unloved and forgotten items is starting to be realised as our society reaches a tipping point set to harness the ‘idling capacity’ of what we previously just considered ‘stuff’.

The tipping point I am referring to is Collaborative Consumption, the rapid explosion in bartering, lending, swapping, renting and trading that has been made possible through technology and peer-to-peer networks online. This socio-economic groundswell has suddenly given us the opportunity to not only reduce the amount of stuff we are purchasing ‘new’, but also seems to have restored the latent value of the forgotten things we have lying around our house. The more I am learning about this movement and the pioneers driving it, the more I see a garage full of potential – items that I could gift, on-sell or just simply rent out – instead of objects one step away from the tip. And perhaps more importantly, I have a growing aversion to gathering more stuff, especially if its value to me is purely material, and there is a high likelihood that I could source a ‘gently’ used one from someone looking to get rid of their own clutter.

It seems that in every sector in countries around the world, there is an emerging Collaborative Consumption alternative to ‘business-as-usual’, attracting people and converting them into ‘members’ as they too shift their thinking to a more collaborative and holistic approach to commuting, travelling, working, shopping, borrowing and lending money and even recreation. Where once hotel accommodation may have been my only option for staying in a foreign city, I can now scroll a database of thousands of accommodation options around the world staying in people’s spare rooms, or their entire houses, through sites like Airbnb. Updating my wardrobe would normally be a time-consuming, costly and momentarily satisfying exercise – now I can attend Clothing Exchange events where my old favourites are given new life and I leave with a surprising mix of new additions to my closet – all free. And next time I need something for a one-off occasion, instead of feeling compelled to buy it anyway because there’s no other option, I can tap into a neighborhood borrowing network which gives me access to the things I need when I need it, saving every house in the street from needing to have their ‘own’.

By adding an element of style, community or excitement to what would otherwise be a routine process, these platforms are bringing awareness back to our purchasing habits. And even better, they are helping us to recognize the value of the ‘stuff’ we already own – objects currently sit around gathering dust that could be swapped, lent or sold on to someone who immediately sees their potential. Suddenly everything in our possession once again becomes an important asset that we should value, maintain and part with thoughtfully.