There’s so much stuff in the world. At Green Thing, we like borrowing, re-gifting, reusing, sharing and renting. We’ve been having an All-Consuming Summer, looking at creative, inventive ways of using everything up, and wasting nothing, like renting, for example.
So, here are 5 unusual and interesting things you may not have known you could rent.
1. Goats. Yes, goats. You can hire a goat to manage your backyard and get all of the work completed that pesticides would have normally done, but not as toxic or damaging to the environment. Prices start from around $200 a day for a dozen goats. What a steal!
2. University Textbooks. Book Renter let’s you find the textbooks you need at a fraction of the cost. Not only does this make education more affordable, it addresses the issue of a surplus of textbooks that depreciate in value overnight, or when a course is finished. Plus, you can even open your own book rental store, using their platform.
3. Rent a garden. In Germany, there’s a service called ‘Meine Ernte‘ or My Harvest, for us English-speaking folk, that lets out garden allotments each season. Tools, materials and on hand expert garden advice included!
4. Contented Camping allows people to rent good quality camping equipment as kind of like a trial to see if the gear is worth the investment, but also to prevent unnecessary buying of cheap stuff. Green Thing piloted the world’s first biodegradable tent during festival season to highlight how much waste can be generated through cheap camping gear. Contented camping offers an alternative to our (fabulous but minimalist) cardboard tent. High quality at an affordable price.
5. Designer dresses. All the Hollywood Glam you can get, on a budget. In the UK, there’s Girl Meets Dress. In the US, there’s Wear Today Gone Tomorrow. Especially when most of us don’t get all dressed up everyday, why buy something that collects dust and tempts moths hanging in your closet, when you can rent it.
Katherine Hui is currently the Social site editor at Green Thing, a web-based public service in London that inspires people to lead greener lives through creative content.
Before this, she worked as the Development Manager at Social Innovation Camp, an organization that encourages people to use web and mobile-based technology to mobilise social change. She oversaw 300 ideas submission and helped build 20 prototypes – five of which have gone on to get further funding or investment.
Katherine’s came over to the UK form Canada in 2007 for an MSc program at the London School of Economics. Before arriving in London, she managed a small environmental start-up in Vancouver called the Canadian Climate Change Alliance.
Katherine is football mad. She is a loyal supporter of Arsenal FC, plays for Islington Borough Ladies FC and coaches for Gunners in Islington in her spare time. Her second favourite hobby is kite surfing and she can sometimes be found chasing the wind.
