The sharing economy (collaborative economy) is an emerging socio-economic movement aimed at shared consumption of goods and services. Often making use of some form of communication technology (apps or websites) the sharing economy forms a vast community of people who share homes, cars, bikes, boats,tools, books, pets, etc. It’s a great step forward and signifies a move away from consumerism. Actively sharing goods and services makes people save money, share experiences and prevent objects to be underutilized. Here’s our pick from the 5 best and most breathtaking videos on the Sharing Economy.
1. Sharing Economy 101
You’ve heard of Taskrabbit, Couchsurfing and maybe some of the smaller platforms, but what is the sharing economy about? And why is it so important? This short animated video will answer the most pressing questions.
2. Peer2peer — put into practice!
Now we know what the collaborative economy is about, let’s see whether it actually works! These three friends put it to test and traveled 21.000 km by solely using sharing economy platforms and communities. They made a video log of their adventures and this is their final report.
3. Sharing communities and cities
Collaborative Cities is a worthwhile documentary featuring stories of people from Europe and North America who have come together to share resources, knowledge and/or facilities. Have you already heard of Park Slope Food Coop, KissKissBankBank or Not Far From The Tree?
4. Connecting knowledge without internet
Many of the sharing economy platforms rely on internet access, but what if you live in a remote area with no internet? The startup WeFarm connects 120.000(!) farmers from across Kenya, Uganda and Peru via smartphone to access and share vital agricultural information.
5. Criticism towards the current sharing economy
In the following video Janelle Orsi voices her concern with the current state of the sharing economy: “It seems we have forgotten about the sharing part”. She discusses two fatal design flaws of the larger sharing platforms.
