OurGoods: A barter network for the creative community

I have the good fortune of being on a panel this weekend at the ICEA Conference with one of the founders of OurGoods--a public service platform to support bartering within and among a community of creative makers and doers. In their words, "OurGoods exists so that creative people can help each other produce independent projects. More work gets done in networks of shared respect and shared resources than in competitive isolation. By honoring agreements and working hard, members of OurGoods will build lasting ties in a community of enormous potential."

I love these folks. The emphasis here is on honor, collaboration, and mutual respect. Driven by social and human values, they speak to the idea of industry, hard work and improvement. It's a brilliant service using a thorough and thoughtful process to bring talent together in an open, negotiable and mutually respectful way. What I'm particularly drawn to is their careful consideration on explaining how the process works, so people can confidently engage in new practices. Bartering may seem like a familiar idea because of it's informal nature. But OurGoods is very clear in explaining that bartering is very different than gifting. Bartering is a process of negotiation and expectation setting. There are rules involved that support trustworthy and satisfying transactions and interactions. 

I appreciate too the tone they use throughout their whole service: one that is clear, convivial, and inclusive. There is clear thought that has gone into their values and how they play out throughout and across their service. This service is a real inspiration and important case study for anyone interested in putting together a similar service or project centered around negotiation and resource sharing.

A Few Thoughts on the Maker Movement

A short article popped up at Shareable this weekend rephrasing some of the over-arching issues that explain how and why collaborative consumption, the maker movement, informal economies, etc. should be understood as something more than a trend, and instead, a quiet and steady r/evolution in how the world is and could be produced and shared. Thanks to a rise in a networked society, which is providing free or low-cost, instant access to open platform technical, fiscal and intellectual resources, we're now able to engage in personal- and community-based production in ways never experienced before. Specifically, the self-producers of the world, which were historically isolated from one another, are now producing at higher levels and collaborating in ways that are making real inroads on what society consumes. And whether intentionally or not, are prodding us to think about how we make our consumer decisions.

On one hand these collaborations are enabling self-sustaining mini economies to take hold or at a minimum, to be rigorously explored. (Think Smorgasbord). What's particularly interesting to me is that with these burgeoning, bottoms up options that are becoming available, issues like ethics, impact, and quality of life are giving price point a run for its money as decision-making criteria. On a more practical note, collaborative economies are reducing the need for middlemen, which helps keep prices and material use lower. And for consumers we're finding we don't have to be passive recipients of whatever the market dictates but have more value-aligning options and negotiating power around the stuff we want surrounding our lives.

The article offers the possibility that from this self-organizing and -producing approach, there could come more sustainable models of production and consumption. While applicable everywhere, there could be important implication for societies that lack the wherewithal to work with more traditional or institutionalized modes of production. I see this in my own neighborhoods throughout Pittsburgh where folks like DIY'ers and small-scale farmers are able to pay their bills through collaborative enterprises while exposing the community to some alternative consumer options--ones that say, whether deliberately or not, here is a way to do less damage or this is a more delightful way to go about living a life. I'm hopeful reading this article, knowing that competent visionaries and public facing figures are taking a step back to consider and communicate the implications of this shifting state towards collaboration.

Another platform approach to developing local economies

Our food friends up in NYC have developed Smorgasbord, a Brooklyn Food Flea Market. Not sure how I feel about the association with flea markets--their "catch as catch can", of-varying-quality connotation, but I'm excited to see how Smorgasbord is focusing their effort on being the connective tissue between the regional growers, purveyors and producers who are concerned with food access, nutrition and sustainable growing practices. Instead of waiting for policy makers to make connections and do something about it, local experts are seeing both a philosophical and economic opportunity to provide an alternative to the current marketing structure that usually keeps these groups separated. Smorgasbord is offering a nice glimpse of a bottoms-up, systemic approach to local food production and distribution. Given their claim of building a democratic approach to eating and buying food, I'll be interested to see how they reach out to different consumers communities as their project evolves. They're not explicit how their established market place will be able reach as many people as possible.

In their words:
"Here are our goals with Smorgasburg: directly connect local/NYC purveyors with regional farmers/producers; make good, fresh, affordable food accessible to as many people as possible; provide purveyors and farmers with a platform to sustain their businesses; and create a market that makes eating and buying food fun, democratic, and easy."

Good luck Smorgasbord!

"Yes, We're Open" A Vision on Open Design

This set of principles (above) comes from an exhibition put together by Intrastructures out of Belgium who are exploring how a networked society is reshaping the way we create, consume, and produce.

Thomas Lommee has provided a short manifesto on what it means to design for open standards or to design for adaption. He provides a nice overview: "Today, the pro-active consumer is no longer judging an object for what it is but rather imagines what it could become [I would add that they also see an object in terms of what goals they want to achieve ie. people don't buy a drill because they want the machine; they buy a drill because they want the hole.]. The objects themselves are starting to behave more and more like dynamic puzzles, self-improving product versions rather than rigid monoliths. This shift from product to process allows the product to be adapted over time according to personal needs and flavors."

He's quick to recognize that open standards are already ubiquitous from the internet itself to manufacturing specs that permeate society (eg. a lightbulb used here will work there as well). He's making a new proposal though--that we need to give up the myth of "creating something completely new" or "something that hasn't been done" and transition into a willingness to dissolve into larger projects where we facilitate others and collaborate for shareable outcomes and possibilities. The focus shifts from building that one ideal, proprietary object or service to the development of open standards platforms or systems that enable citizens to do as they need or want with what they have at their disposal.

Using a simple example: Instead of developing strategies that brand and sell people the newest, most unique article of clothing, provide them a standard item or material and accompany it with patterns, directions, a community, etc. they can draw from, so they can define and develop "clothing" (ie. content) and "newness" for themselves. Not everyone wants to do this of course, but in our growing networked society, we've tipped towards a world of interlocking co-producers who find this a much more enticing approach to production and consumption, and in my opinion, community building.

Case in point:
Pamoyo--open source fashion label out of Berlin

Categorizing Collaborative Marketplaces

Pulling again from What's Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, below are three categories for grouping the burgeoning systems for trading, swapping, lending, borrowing, sharing and exchanging.

Product Service Systems
These services enable products, if owned by an entity, to be rented, and if owned by individuals, to be rented or shared peer-to-peer. These systems do well to extend the life of a product and maximizes its utility. Examples include ZipCar, Zilok, Rentoid, RelayRides.
Redistribution Markets
Through social networks, these markets enable the redistribution or circulation of used or unwanted good. Products can be free ex. Freecycle, Around Again; sold for points ex. Barterquest; or for cash ex. eBay, Flippid; or some sort of mixture ex MakeupAlley, Craigslist. The powerful thing about redistribution markets is that they challenge the traditional relationship between producer, retailer and consumer, blurring the lines between actor and audience.
Collaborative Lifestyles
Involves the sharing of less tangible items such as time, skills and places. These occur on local as well as international levels. Rather than a centralized top down management system, these dynamics rely heavily on trust and interpersonal dynamics to survive and flourish. Examples include; Citizen Space, Airbnb, Landshare, and ParkatMyHouse, to name a few.

The Garage Sale Trail

Another piece of re-use ingenuity from Australia. This time a city wide set of yard sales to keep usable stuff off the curbs and placed into needed hands. Here's a quick video on how they did it and who supported them along the way. More than just quaint civic action, this example shows a nice blend between digital networking and printed matter coming together quickly and effectively to organize, inform, and execute.

On that note, the group Let's Do It is setting a nice precedent for similar activities, specifically around large scale mapping and clean-up of environmental hazards

Informal Economies in Africa: Creating products, services and systems that reinforce convivial relationships among people

Just paraphrasing a conversation between John Thackera and Mugendi M’Rithaa that showed up on the Thackera's Doors of Perception (first published in the Design Observer). Below is a quick capture of some ideas and language around the under-pinnings of "alternative" economies, specifically in Africa.

As socially-based alternatives economies are becoming more and more pervasive, there may be some lessons to learn from a continent that "may be cash poor but communally rich", attributing its wealth to "the universal value of participative, cohesive and inter-connected communities," says M'Rithaa. He continues, "A sense of communal solidarity is still strongly embedded in our collective consciousness and social fabric. For many close-knit communities (especially in rural and peri-urban settings) consumerism has yet to take its hold on the popular psyche – people readily share what they have, and borrow what they don’t." What I take this to imply is that, collectively speaking, Africa is still a culture of smaller, closer knit relationships where it is understood, implicitly or explicitly, that people are reliant upon each other to make their worlds move smoothly. Even if the circles are growing every day, there hasn't yet been a tipping point that moves the culture from a culture of "WE" to a culture of "ME." Subsequently, ownership is less a goal than a component of a larger system of sharing or exchanging.

This, M'Ritha says, is what makes Africa worth noting. Built upon a culture of collective self-reliance, and mutual assistance,the informal economy (barter, trade, swap, share....) is what keeps Africa moving. M'Ritha says that the sense of solidarity is pervasive. "It's expressed in various types of elective creative communities; these typically deal with shared needs such as running communal crèches and car pooling. These groups are known as chamas in Kenya, and differ significantly from traditional forms of groupings where membership was based on common kinship." At the heart of these economies is trust.

What's Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption

Came across an article in the Boston Globe profiling the first National Swap Day Event which was held in Boston during the early part of January.

Rachel Botsman, coauthor of the recent book “What’s Mine is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption," weighed in on the growing popularity of swapping and "attributes the swelling of swapping to a perfect alignment of social and economic attitudes. The recession forced budget-conscious consumers to barter rather than buy. Sophisticated technology made it easy to organize quickly online. Such sites addressed people’s interest in recycling their belongings. And despite the apparent rancor with which they shop, swappers say they enjoy the sense of community."

“The result is a big shift away from the 20th century defined by hyper consumption, essentially buying more stuff and a culture of me, myself, and I towards the 21st-century era of collaborative consumption,’’ Botsman said. “In the past, it was not worth the hassle to swap stuff. Network technologies now create an infinite marketplace to match millions of haves with millions of wants, whatever they may be, from a small device in our hands.’’

I'm curious to see what she has to say about people's interest in the the creation process. How much or how willing are people to participate in the production of exchange in addition to filling the role as end consumer. As well, with this shift towards collaboration over sole ownership, is she seeing any new patterns or change in behavior as it relates to what and how much people consume.


Also mentioned in the profile is a brief nod to GrowNYC, an environmental nonprofit created by the New York City mayor’s office. Recognizing the trend towards re-use, they've recently added and organized 13 “Stop ‘N Swap’’ events (attracting more than 4,000 people) to their Office of Recycling Outreach and Education.

Wearable Collection: Clothing Recycling

Building off of yesterday's post, I found the recycling service, Wearable Collection. They use their established network to distribute others discarded clothing around the world to people who need it, enabling them to raise money for charitable organizations. To quote them: "Rather than having your residents haul their clothing to a collection site, or worse, dump them in the trash, we would like to place a receptacle in your building for their recycling convenience. Our aim is to reduce clothing in landfills while helping raise funds for non-profits."

In addition to saving valuable, usable textiles and clothing from the landfill and making them accessible to those in need, the service emphasizes its logistical, back-end capacity. They help groups publicize the clothing recovery drive, pick up the clothing after it's been collected, and ensure that the clothing gets into the hands of people who need it—people as far away as Africa, Central America, and South America.

They've developed a service that provides the following:
1.PLACEMENT OF BINS
We will provide you with a poly cart, 28.5” deep x 48” wide x 66.5” high, or a similar variation to suit your specific requirements. The cart should be placed in a location that is easily accessible to residents. (i.e., laundry room or basement storage area).

2.AWARENESS
We will notify residents about the program and the location of the bin with flyers placed on the community board or sent to their e-mail addresses. You can download the flyers needed below.

3.PICK-UP
While the amount of the clothing donated will vary from building to building, you can expect that we will pick up, one per week. We will schedule a weekly pick-up with you and adjust accordingly, as volume may fluctuate.

4.EASE AND CONVENIENCE.
Our goal is to maximize clothing recycled while minimizing inconvenience to you. If you are interested in participating in our clothing recycling program we will find a way to work within your building's constraints.