Sharability ::: tonite at CMC

The Civic Media Center will host a presentation by UF Phd candidate Alex Goldman on Tuesday, October 13th beginning at 7pm. Goldman is the founder of the new social and economic networking site "Sharability," which uses the power of internet-based social networking to facilitate the sharing of useful items within the local community, with the goal of helping folks save money, reduce waste, and build community ties among friends and neighbors.



From the Sharability mission statement: "Sharability aims to help people share their infrequently used stuff - go look in your closet or garage to find some examples. Self-storage space available in the US grew 700% over the last 25 years, even as new homes became 25% larger during the same period. We are a society of accumulators and landfill contributors, but the costs of consumerism at this scale are steep, both in financial and environmental terms. We think these wasteful ways stem not so much from individuals' limitless desires, but their inability to fulfill them outside of traditional shopping practices.



Though we own lots of useful but idle things, our respective inventories remain largely a mystery to others, even those who we trust enough to lend them to in times of need. This scarcity of information means borrowing isn't really a realistic option in most cases and we default to buying instead. We aren't asking people to post lists of such items on their front doors - Sharability.org offers more secure and efficient mechanisms."

Read more at Elephant Journal...