Combining ecology and economy through sharing and functionality
June 26, 2024 asemaphore-CSRinfluencers
Combining economy and ecology is often difficult, as the former causes significant damage to the latter. Nevertheless, many initiatives, associations and companies are developing new ideas to create a social and sustainable economy. One of these is the sharing and functionality economy.
The sharing economy gains in importance in Switzerland
The sharing and/or functionality economy breaks with the idea that you have to buy the good in order to use it. In this new dynamic, we pay for use (functionality), not possession. The classic example is the local library, where you borrow books that others have read before you and will read after you, instead of collecting dust at home. Often, prices are more affordable and this gives you access to higher-quality goods.
Investment in this sector is soaring. According to Deloitte, 12 billion has been invested, and 55% of consumers plan to use a sharing economy platform.
On the business side, we find Airbnb and Uber, as well as coworking spaces. Even if the environmental and social benefits of such enterprises need to be qualified (uberization produces workers with little social protection and relieves companies of their obligations towards their employees), the sharing economy should not be dismissed out of hand. In fact, more local initiatives are emerging with genuinely positive and lasting impacts. One of these is La Manivelle.
La Manivelle, a library of objects
La Manivelle operates like a traditional library. With a subscription, customers can borrow an item from its catalog of over 4,000 items, ranging from party equipment to DIY. Simply return it to one of La Manivelle's branches (MACO, Thônex, Pâquis) or a collection point, of which Foound is now a member.
The famous benefits for the planet
With the economy of sharing and functionality, as with La Manivelle, the need to buy diminishes. ZeroWaste Switzerland mentions that the average Swiss car is filled by 1.53 people and is parked 95% of the time, while there are almost 4.8 million vehicles! It's easy to understand that carsharing would reduce consumption and therefore production of cars, and in turn, the extraction and use of water and energy and other resources needed to create them. ZeroWaste Switzerland also presents the case of a drill that is only used for 13 minutes in its lifetime, so buying one is a waste of money and time. If it were borrowed, it would be used more often, and again, the need to produce new ones would diminish, as would the number of drills ending up in the garbage can. What's more, companies such as La Manivelle offer repair services for the items they rent out, which increases their lifespan and reduces waste production.
On the social front, as mentioned above, local initiatives also have a mission to contribute, whether by supporting social causes or integrating people with disabilities. For giants like Uber, more regulation is needed to combat wage dumping. For the record, 21% of Swiss would be in favor of greater regulation of the sharing economy.
You can find La Manivelle on www.manivelle.ch and Foound on www.foound.ch