Has anyone tried out the new service called NeighborGoods? The service looks like it connects people who need to borrow and rent “neighborly” items with others in the community that have the items. Rakes, shovels, lawn mowers, bikes, vacuum cleaners, etc. In theory, this sounds like it would be a really beneficial service, something that we attempt to do sometimes on our mailing list. The service could save money people money and make better use of idle resources.
I wrote an open thread post on opensource.com about this, Would you share with your neighbors?, with some interesting comments from the community. Some people think it won’t work. Others say it already works nicely in their communities without the service.
I see one version of this being a community tool shed. There’s been a lot of talk about community gardens in our area. With that, would come shared responsibility and shared resources. Everyone participating in the community garden would also be accountable for the care, the shared tools, and would consequently, reap the benefits of the garden.
One person mentions that this type of sharing / renting service would work in smaller communities. I agree. I think in more tight-knit communities, the sense of accountability is higher. And that is my one hesitation about this service. Would people who you lend things to take as good of care for of those items as you? I know when I borrow something from a neighbor, I try to take extra special care.
In fact, I’m participating in the sense of sharing already. Last summer, I borrowed a trailer from a neighbor to haul a bunch of dirt. I picked it up, used it, cleaned it out, and returned it. Just last week, I let a co-worker borrow a ladder. The expectation is that I’ll get it back in the same condition before lending it out.
My guess is that NeighborGoods creates more of a marketplace around the old word-of-mouth approach. And this is something that is needed as Raleigh and other communities around the world continue to grow. Does everyone need a shovel or does every block need one? Lowes, Home Depot, and other hardware stores would say that every house needs one.
What do you think? Would the Neighborgoods program work in our area? Have you used it and have a review? Tell us in the comments below.
Tags: borrow, community, home depot, lowes. hardware, neighborgoods, neighborhoods, raleigh, sharing, shovels
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I think that’s a GREAT idea! I have a ton of tools and equipment in my garage, and I would love to have bought only a few things and share and be shared with.
[...] Does sharing locally work? December 1st, 2010 by Jason Hibbets Back in July, I wrote a post about Sharing with your neighbors that focused on the site NeighborGoods.net. The service connects people who need to borrow and rent [...]