When was the last time you used your drill? And your pressure washer? And what about your ice cream maker? To fight against overconsumption and maximize the use of the objects we own, a crowdfunding campaign is launched this Tuesday to make possible the launch of a loan application between neighbors.
Posted at 11:00 a.m.
Mother of two children, advertiser Fauve Doucet (OMD, Factry, Cossette) became uncomfortable with overconsumption when she saw the lot of objects offered to them at birthdays and Christmas parties. “I was in my condo in Montreal and I was having anxiety when I received the big Paw Patrol tower! she says. I had to do toy rotations because my kids couldn’t see everything they had. »
Because wants and needs often change in young children, she got to thinking about the sharing economy. In view of the fact that there is a great demand for all types of objects, it set up Club Sharing, an application that promotes the exchange of objects between neighbors. “Everything we have at home that we don’t use every day, we could lend to each other instead of buying them,” she says.
She launched a prototype in her neighborhood, with environmental aims first, in response to the problem of overconsumption which accelerates the depletion of natural resources and increases greenhouse gas emissions. The motivations of users are multiple.
People will not necessarily do it out of ecological conscience, but because it saves them from buying and the inflation rate increases. They also create social bonds. It’s an excuse to meet your neighbors. And they do it because it’s very functional. It’s faster than Amazon Prime, and those who don’t have a car can walk to access a lot of things.
Fauve Doucet, initiator of the project
Nearly 2,500 people use the prototype, which is currently embodied in Facebook groups accessible by invitation. “It reaches people in the regions as well as in the city and the suburbs,” says Fauve Doucet. There are even people in the farming community who are beginning to show interest. “About 90% of users manage to meet their need less than 24 hours after expressing it, she adds.
The crowdfunding campaign launched this Tuesday on La Ruche aims to raise $50,000 to accelerate the development of a mobile application which should be accessible to everyone, with an annual subscription, by the end of the year. If the $50,000 objective is reached, Recyc-Québec will donate an additional $25,000.
Users will be able to both make requests and offer an object through catalogs. It is also expected that property insurance as well as a reliability validation system with users will be included in the application.