Invest in Sharing graffitiPhoto: Toban BlackNeither a borrower nor a lender be? Stuff it, old man. Shareable has collected a primer on “collaborative consumption,” i.e. the fine art of consensual mooching. At the risk of sounding like a dangerous commie: It turns out there’s basically no reason to be the sole owner of anything ever again.

Among the things Shareable shows you how to go splitsies on:

  • Housing. If you can handle a housemate, sharing living quarters reduces your rent and can make your utilities usage more efficient. Our favorite: The cohousing directory, which helps you find communities with cooperative home ownership.

  • Food and gardening. Sign up for a shared vegetable garden, find a CSA, or start a collaborative cooking group. Our favorite: MamaBake, which helps you organize multi-family-style large-batch cooking.

    • Grist thanks its sponsors. Become one.

    To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Here's How

  • Work. Start a coworking space to consolidate utility usage — and get that water-cooler culture you’ve been missing at your telecommuting job. Our favorite: The coworking wiki.

  • Travel. Why stay at a hotel when you can house-swap or couch-surf? Our favorite: CouchSurfing, which hooks travelers up with a place to crash.

  • Transportation. From slug lines to ZipCars, there are a lot of ways to share transportation even if you’re going somewhere public transit can’t take you. Our favorite: Taxi2, which turns the expensive and wasteful airport taxi ride into a shared experience.

  • Media. Borrow and swap books, DVDs, music, and games. Our favorite: BookMooch, which lets you offer up books you’re over and request books you want to read next. (Sure, sure, it’s called a library, but some of us have a book-buying problem, okay?)

    • Grist thanks its sponsors. Become one.

    To support our nonprofit environmental journalism, please consider disabling your ad-blocker to allow ads on Grist. Here's How

  • Clothing. Rent clothes for special events, or throw a swap meet. Our favorite: SwapStyle, which keeps fashion victims from becoming fashion hoarders.

  • School supplies. Sharing keeps college students from having to write home for money. Our favorite: Chegg, which rents out textbooks. (Because let’s be real — are you seriously going to need that $100 chem book this semester, let alone next?)

Read more:

“The Gen Y Guide to Collaborative Consumption,” Shareable