it’s national sharing day ..

Kick-started by The People Who Share, to coincide with A Good Week, National Sharing Day on June 20th will see a host of organisations from around the UK coming together to celebrate sharing in all sorts of different ways.

On the day, Ecomodo will be participating with a number of activities including the launch of BT’s workplace lending circle at Adastral Park, in Ipswich.

We will also be following events on Twitter and Facebook – so keep an eye out for #NationalSharingDay.

If you’d like to celebrate National Sharing day, but are not sure where to start; we’ve put together a handy list of ideas, and services to join, to inspire you to start sharing.

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Here are 5 ways to start sharing with ecomodo.com

1. Lend a ladder: Ladders, drills and tents are the most borrowed items on Ecomodo. Got one? Why not add it to Ecomodo to lend and choose to lend for free, a fee or for charity.

2. Start sharing at your workplace: Be inspired by BT and start a lending circle at your workplace too. It’s quick and easy to do and brings heaps of benefits to your staff and your organisation. Find out more.

3. Find out what your friends are hiding  in their closet: Everyone who joins Ecomodo automatically gets a friends’ lending circle. So sign up, invite some friends and start sharing. Simple.

4. Share something unusual: As well as the everyday, there are many unusual things to borrow on Ecomodo (goods: a unicycle, periscope, iPads, ballroom dress & shoes; spaces: a kiln, Garden Space for beehive; skills: how to cook a fish stew). What could you lend that’s extraordinary?

5. Pop up a poster: Inspire others to start sharing. Print out our lovely new poster and pin it up at your workplace, local library, school, community centre or favourite cafe.

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Here are 5 other great ways to share ..

1. Give someone a lift: Share a spare seat in your car with GoCarShare, Liftshare and BlaBlaCar. Find a journey you need to take with CompareAndShare.

2. Borrow a car: Lend your own car to a neighbour on Whipcar or join a car sharing scheme such as Zipcar or City Car Club.

3. Give stuff away: Got stuff you don’t need anymore? Pass it on to someone who does, with Freegle, Ditto or the London Reuse Network.

4. Share your passion: Passionate about something? Share it. Great sites are ProjectDirt and Horsesmouth.

5. Swap a Shallot: Got too many carrots and not enough potatoes? Share your home grown on Lourish and FruitShare.

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We’ve always knew that sharing could make you happy and now it’s been confirmed in a fantastic new report from Co-operatives UK.

“We are a nation that knows how good sharing feels. 7 out of 10 people in the UK say that sharing makes us feel better about ourselves, 8 out of 10 say that sharing makes them happy.”  Borrowed from The great sharing economy | Co-operatives UK | 2011

Be happy, start sharing! Join the marketplace of good returns at ecomodo.com

.. And even if you’re not sure what to lend or borrow, sign up to keep updated about new items to borrow and wanted ads near you.

the Northern Trust starts sharing ..

To celebrate Earth Day and as a second investigation into promoting our staff sharing initiative, last Thursday we headed over to Canary Wharf and to the impressive building of the Northern Trust.

For Earth Day, The Northern Trust had already planned an event to promote a number of sustainable living initiatives to their staff including ‘walk to work’, ‘cup for life’ and an ‘office recycling quiz’

We decided to piggybank onto their event to launch the Northern Trust staff lending circle on Ecomodo and joined them for at their ‘early’ Earth Day extravaganza to help inspire their staff to start sharing.

Held in a bustling cafe over lunchtime, it was great to see a number of staff join up there and then.

We will be following up over the next few weeks to see how they are getting on and to look at activity number 2. Watch this space ..

tea with the BITC ..

Last Friday, though sporadic April showers, I headed to the tranquil office of Business in the Community (BITC) overlooking regents canal – for afternoon tea.

The BITC have agreed to help us explore our employee engagement initiative and the kind of interventions that may be needed to encourage and actively get staff to share. So over a cup of tea and a slice of cake, we spent some time talking about stuff.

Within the BITC there’s a “Walk the Talk” team, who’s purpose is to inspire their colleagues to live more sustainably at work and at home. So prior to my visit, members of the team had already come together to create a BITC lending circle for the London office and added a whole host of items – including books, a picnic blanket, sports equipment, a skype headset, a tent, tuxedo and even a unicycle – to help inspire their colleagues to join in. And to boost the notion of sharing, a whole afternoon tea was also borrowed too.

The team had brought borrowed table cloths, napkins, tea-pot and cups and also a number of items they had added to ecomodo. A couple of team members had also made homemade brownies and fruitcake – needless to say – the cake didn’t last very long.

To help explore and getting everyone talking stuff .. we played a game! Green stickies for an item you would lend and orange for something you would like to borrow.

With lots of enthusiasm, around 35 staff members joined in the event and at the end of tea, we left the stickies as a reminder which have now been posted in a common area in the office. So far the BITC lending circle is up to 11 members, 18 items to borrow and 1 wanted ad. We will keep updating progress. Next step: Posters.