Share or Die! - #Bookaday

The winner of the first copy of Share or Die is @sgleason! Congratulations!

 A new day a new chance to win a copy of Share or Die, Voices of the Get Lost Generation in the Age of Crisis. To enter all you have to do is retweet our contest tweet @NewSocietyPub or share this post on the social media of your choice using the SHARE THIS widget that appears above and below this post. Then, leave a comment on this blog entry to let us know you have done so. (If you don’t we won’t know you have shared!) We will randomly select a winner from each day's entries.

Does sharing come naturally, or is it a skill that has to be learned? Do you remember the first time you were told to share? Possibly by a parent, insisting you let your younger sibling play with your favourite toy (…maybe more so that she could get some peace from the whining, more than to instill a life lesson!). Did you do so happily, or begrudgingly? My son, an only child, hides his “important” toys before kids come over so he won’t have to share…it horrifies me.

But does sharing need boundaries? I used to share my clothes with my best friend…until she returned a pair of my pants she had tailored to fit her. And I’ve  opened my home to friends, only to be forced to temporarily move out as space became limited.

But what if our capacity to share determined our ability to survive, even thrive, in the ever-changing economic and social climate? Today, we are lucky to have shareable.net blogger, Kelly McCartney guide us through the brave new world of sharing, demonstrating how sharing not only contributes to the common good, but may very well help solve some of the crises we face. We’re  not in kindergarten anymore…

Confucius is credited with the famous quotation, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” While taking a single step into the world of sharing might seem like a giant leap to some people, there are myriad ways to embark on the journey. You can start small by cleaning out your closets or go big by giving up your car.

Along the way, use Shareable as your tour guide, your traveling companion, and your reference library. There's a wealth of information gathered on these pages and it is yours for the taking... and sharing. To get you started, here are the 20 most popular 'How To' articles in the Shareable vaults of wisdom:

1. How to Be a Carfree Family
 Whether you opt for a bike, public transportation, car sharing, walking, or a combination, cutting back on auto usage is a wonderful way to save money and the environment.

2. How to Barter, Give, and Get Stuff
 From gift circles to work trade, an alternate economy awaits those looking to do more with less. Just be sure to be clear about any legal and tax ramifications of the barter in question.

3. How to Start a Really Really Free Market
 Somewhere between a flea market and Burning Man, RRFMs are, of course, free. Community members come together to trade skills, food, entertainment, stuff, and more.

4. How to Share a Chicken (or Two)
 Zenger Farm in Portland provides a picture perfect example of a shared, urban farming experience with its Eastside Egg Cooperative.

5. How to Start Your Own Skillshare
 Inspired by a weekend of free learning in Boston, a Brooklyn photographer started a Skillshare event in Gowanus where the community came together to teach each other about everything from brewing kombucha to fixing bicycles.

6. How I Avoided Holiday Shopping Through a Donation Exchange
 Want to step away from the materialism and consumerism that has become the holiday season? Set up a donation exchange within you circle of family and friends to move your money from the mall to the world.

7. Eight Ways to Share Your Stuff with the World
 Clearing out a life's worth of clutter can be a daunting task or an eight-fold path. Getting both creative and practical is the easiest means to the end.

8. How to Start a Farmers' Market
 When the neighborhood organic grocery store closed down, residents of Noe Valley in San Francisco decided to start their own farmers' market.

9. How to Throw a Community Swap Meet
 Combining free stuff with barter and sale items, a swap meet is a fantastic way for community members to share in some give and take.

10. How to Swap Cities
 For anyone who's ever dreamed of living (and working) somewhere else for a little while, SwapYourShop can make it happen.

11. How to Share a Nanny
 Any way you slice it, child care is expensive. But slicing it in any way certainly helps. That's where sharing a nanny comes in.

12. How Hosting a Babyfood Swap Saved My Sanity and Fed My Child
 As evidenced by the Really Really Free Markets, Skillshare, and Community Swap Meets above, just about anything is worthy of being traded or bartered. Baby food is no exception.

13. How to Share a Cow
 It seems CSAs aren't just for vegetables anymore. Carnivores are getting in on the action with local meat CSAs through which they can share grass-fed beef, pork, and chicken.

Hot tip: “You’re keeping money in the community, supporting small farmers and having a reduced environmental impact because your food doesn’t get trucked as far. You’re helping support the entire ecosystem.”

14. How to Share Time
 Particularly during periods of high unemployment, being able to put your time and energy to good, effective use is a god-send. Doing so through a time exchange ensures that you get something back for your effort.

Hot tip: “The egalitarian nature of the system ensures that people will be able to purchase the services that they need without toiling endlessly for high-priced services like in the market economy.”

15. How to (Legally) Open a Gift (Economy)
 A companion piece to #2 on the list, this post explores more specific ways to step into a system of giving and sharing, while being mindful of the legal constraints involved in doing so.

Hot tip: “Don’t ask people to pay you back, but do encourage them to pay it forward!”

16. How to Start a Housing Coop
 There's much more to cooperative living than just a load of financial and environmental benefits.

Hot tip: “Studies show that coops provide other benefits, like greater social cohesion and support, reduced crime, increased civic engagement and sustainability, better quality and maintenance of housing, and resident stability.”

The Sunwise Coop family (photo courtesy by Sunwise)

17. How to Share a Vegetable Garden
 Growing a garden on your neighbor's property is a wonderful, mutual experience. It also involves a number of considerations to think through beforehand.

Hot tip: “When you begin sharing, it’s also important to know in advance how you will stop sharing.”

18. How Nonprofits Can Share Down Their Costs (Part I)
 Nonprofits are accustomed to working on the cheap and sharing resources with other organizations. Why not look at all the ways they can cut costs in order to do more with less? Part II is here.

Hot tip: “For some nonprofits, facilities-related costs can be one fourth or more of the total budget. Sharing space creates an opportunity to cut cost of all kinds, including equipment, utilities, staff, building services, and so on.”

19. How to Start a Nature Group for City Kids
 Starting a community group takes six easy steps, at least according to the folks in San Francisco who put together a posse to teach the neighborhood kids about bees and butterflies.

20. How to Share an Education
 Very similar to the Skillshare up at #5, a Freeskool lets community members come together to share knowledge. The difference is that the learning happens in a course over a period of time rather than in a single workshop.

Hot tip: “If education is going to be sustainable, it has to be flexible and up-to-date. Freeskools provide an alternative that enable people respond to the month-to-month needs and interests of their community.”