GoodSharing

Compromised economies naturally lend themselves to the effort of saving money, and the environmentally-responsible tasks of “reducing, re-using and recycling,” rather than wasteful living.

I recently came across a Web site that can help you do all of that, right in your own community. The site, www.goodsharing.com, facilitates the lending of items like DVDs, books, tools and video games among trusted friends. Friends form private ShareCircles™ with their “ShareBuddies” and borrow and lend items to and from people they trust instead of going out and buying them. The advantage of using the site is that it keeps track of “who has what” for you, lets you list items you are willing to lend out, and let’s you see what is out there that people are willing to lend to you. The service is free.

According to co-founder David Hewett, the idea for GoodSharing™ came about after evaluating the amount of toys in his home that weren’t being used.

“My wife and I realized that we were buying the same toys as many of the moms in the playgroups, and observed how many of those toys went under-used as our kids got bored with them,” he said. “So, we thought, how cool would it be if there was an online library of toys that are owned by members of the playgroups, so we could rotate them rather than all buying new all the time.”

Hewett said that although everything listed right now in ShareCircles is an item, he hopes to include services (or “good deeds”) to trade, such as babysitting.

“Our original goal (which is still true today) was simply to provide a service on the Internet that was a good experience and one that people would actually get benefit from,” he said. “We wanted it to be a service where people always felt comfortable knowing they weren’t going to be ripped off or exploited in some way.”

And, for Facebook addicts, GoodSharing is now integrated with the site. So, if you would like, when you add a ShareItem or a ShareCircle, it posts to your Facebook wall.

Kudos to David and company!