Predictions of a big year for Collaborative Consumption in Australia

Recently, the newsletter from the folks at www.collaborativeconsumption.com hit my inbox. It was the first for the year and highlighted four areas to watch in the Collaborative Consumption space in 2012. No Australian examples made it into the list, so I thought I might take this opportunity to give the Aussie collcons space a bit of luuuurve!

But I suppose I better back up a bit and explain what Collaborative Consumption is, just in case it isn’t on your radar yet. Collaborative Consumption describes the rapid explosion in the age old behaviours of sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting, and swapping, which are now being reinvented online. Here’s a video that explains it better than I can!

Collaborative Consumption is a phenomenon sweeping the globe. In 2010 Time Magazine called it one of the ten ideas that will change the world. Social innovator and co-author of What’s Mine Is (Y)ours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, Rachel Botsman says it will define the 21st century. She sees collaborative consumption as a social revolution that allows people to “create value out of shared and open resources in ways that balance personal self-interest with the good of the larger community”.

So anyway back to the four spaces that www.collaborativeconsumption.com are predicting are going to be big this year and the Aussie examples I wanted to share!

1. Ridesharing: in Australia you just can’t go past the easy to use ridesharing platform, Jayride.  Rod and Ross have been really clever and teamed up with music festivals and universities to assist them with traffic congestion and parking issues. They only launched in 2008 and already have 8,000 members who have shared 80,000 rides!

2. Unique Experience Marketplaces: my favourite way to travel is to pretend that I live in each place that I visit, so I just love the idea of these types of marketplaces, which help me connect with “the locals”. Check out two new Aussie sites – the brand spanking new mmmule.com which is a social travel network connecting locals who want stuff, to a traveller who can deliver it and www.locongo.com which helps you find real local experiences, hosted by locals. Very cool!

3. Errand Networks: Australians can now outsource their tasks and trips to people around them with the arrival of two new sites – Taskbox and Meemeep. As the name suggests, Taskbox is all about helping you get through your task list – you list what you would like done and “runners” bid on your job. While, Meemeep connects people on the move with stuff that needs to be moved.  You post what you want moved, what you’ll pay, when you need it done by and you’ll be connected with someone that will do it. Easy!

4. Product Rental: it is really awesome to see this included, since the radical reinvention of the rental experience is certainly the name of the game over at my site, Open Shed. Our peer-to-peer platform enables you to securely rent the stuff you only use occasionally to the people around you. It helps you make a little extra money, feel resourceful, and more connected to your community.  Other Australian peer-to-peer rental sites, include Rentoid and Freegler.

So there you have it, a bit of a shout out for the Australian collaborative consumption scene. Go on, get behind it, this movement is only going to continue to get bigger in Australia!