by Lucy on April 17, 2013
This Meetup group aims to build a community of people who are passionate about collaborative consumption and the sharing economy. Anyone interested in this movement is welcome to join — entrepreneurs, those working for collcons organizations, users and early adopters. Learn about access over ownership and a lifestyle of sharing time, things, space and resources. Discuss industry trends, companies in the space, unique business models, and learn from those working in collcons organizations and those that are avid users of these platforms.
Collaborative Consumption Toronto hopes to grow this movement and make Toronto a global hub for sharing and collaborative living. The next meetup is this Thursday, with the topic of innovative and disruptive business models in the collcons space.
Check it out and become a member!
Hi there! If you're new here, please sign up for our new sharing platform at http://unstash.com. Our mission is to make sharing awesome again!
by Lucy on April 15, 2013
Tear in your jeans? Broken table? Lost earring? While it’s easy to throw out broken things and buy new ones, we suggest fixing and/or reusing those items before trashing them.
Toronto organization Repairathon holds meetups for clothing repair, which are run by volunteers and free to participate. The first one will be on April 20 at Artscape — check it out here. They’re still looking for some sewing supplies (thread), so donate if you can!
Also, with a bit of creativity and some help from Pinterest/DIY blogs, you can turn broken things into other usable items. We saw this great post on Buzzfeed with 41 ways to reuse broken things. Here are some of our favourites:
Plant markers out of broken pots
Broken table into two desks
Broken jewelry into magnets
by Lucy on April 11, 2013
This weekend in Toronto is the Green Living Show at the Direct Energy Centre by the Ex. You can get in for free by bringing your e-waste or show your Live Green Toronto membership card. One of the activities we love as part of this 3-day event is the Book Movie Music Eco-Swap run by Swapsity, Canada’s #1 swapping community. While many of us have moved on to e-readers, Netflix and music apps like Songza and 8Tracks, this is a great opportunity to redistribute old books, DVDs and CDs for others to enjoy.
The weekend after in New York City, Let’s Collaborate! and Closet Dash will be hosting an Earth Day Swap Party for clothes, shoes and bags in Union Square. With Closet Dash, you can swap your clothing, bags and shoes online or at their store near Union Square. We love this idea of swapping gently used clothing, in fact there is a similar store closer to home. Kind Exchange allows you to buy, sell and trade clothing and accessories at their store on Queen Street W. It’s a great way to recycle the clothes you no longer need and redistribute items to others who may want it.
What other swapping services do you use? Let us know! Happy swapping 🙂
The 100 Thing Challenge by Dave Bruno is a story about a man who limits himself to owning only 100 things for one year. It’s inspiring to read his story of “life editing,” how he got rid of tons of stuff and lived with less stress, clutter and excess.
There is a part in the book where he talks about an old train set that he has difficulty letting go of, a toy that has no functional purpose but strong sentimental value. I’m sure we all know this feeling — we attach memories to things, like travel souvenirs or ticket stubs and can’t seem to part with them. However, if you’re finding that a lot of this stuff is tucked in the back of your drawer or in your garage collecting dust, maybe it’s time for some spring cleaning. If something is really important to you, it should be used, honoured, revered. Anything less than that can be donated, sold, given away or thrown out.
Here’s our advice for you if you’re feeling overwhelmed with all the stuff in your home. Get some garbage bags, one for trash and a few for donation/giving away/selling. Throw on some cleaning music and sift for an hour or two (check out Songza and 8Tracks for great cleaning playlists. We like this Summer Cleaning playlist and these upbeat Cleaning Tunes). We also love this article from Life Edited with 8 Tips for editing your life that work for any budget.
Happy unstashing!
by unstash team on March 15, 2013
by unstash team on March 11, 2013
We live in a generation today where we’ve outsourced our imagination to corporations who tell us what to buy, what to wear, and what we ought to want.
Many of us have resorted to purchasing and consuming to fill the deeper human need to imagine and create.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Einstein once said that imagination can take you anywhere. What do you see when you look at the world around you?
