Lifestyle Experiments in the Sharing Economy

Posted on January 7, 2013 by The Young Urban Unprofessional

Over the last year I did a series of 30 day lifestyle experiments covering everything from nutrition to minimalism. Starting fresh in 2013, I’ve decided to refocus my efforts on a new topic: the Sharing Economy. I had trouble finding a decent definition on the internet so I’ll describe it my own way: If a local commune of hippy entrepreneurs made babies with social media platforms then it would be this phenomena we’re currently seeing called the Sharing Economy.

I have been a part of this sharing “revolution” since back in college. In 2007 out of necessity (a mostly broke and entirely car-less student), I jumped at the chance to join Zipcar, a company that offered a car-sharing service where you could rent cars by the hour (~$7/hour) instead of owning one. Considering that I was hardly making any money at the time and that my parents weren’t going to finance one for me, having access to a car when I needed one was a huge improvement to my daily life. It allowed me to get groceries, run errands, and all of the other things that are difficult to do via public transit.

Zipcar makes it very easy to find cars near your location. I frequently will find a car on the fly and rent it using my smartphone. It works great.

Even after graduating and attaining a decent income, I’m now car-less by choice because the car-sharing programs have been very convenient, accessible, and cost effective for me. After accounting for monthly payments, parking ($100-200/month), auto insurance, excise tax, snow tires, repairs, and other various expenses, the math just makes it a no-brainer for me to participate in car-sharing instead of ownership. All that money that I would be spending on owning a vehicle, I’m dumping into my student loans instead, not a bad tradeoff if you ask me. I still do a fair amount of mooching off my friends and their vehicles but that’s only because our plans frequently line up (mostly weekend outdoorsy shenanigans).

Since Zipcar, I’ve been involved in other sharing programs like RelayRides (similar to Zipcar but peer-to-peer car-sharing instead) and organic farming programs like Community Supported Agriculture (CSA, aka farm-sharing).

The best part about not owning a car is getting to drive other peoples expensive cars, thanks @RelayRides #thanksgiving

First meal of my Enterprise Farms #CSA: penne pasta w/ tomato sauce, red kale & baby bok choi, simple and delicious

So far, these experiences have been economically viable for me which is a major driving factor to me participating in them. Secondly, they are more environmentally sustainable than their alternatives (taking cars off the road and eating local produce). Also, each of these platforms creates a global (ish) community but at a local level so you have access to a wide range of geographic data while still being able to operate within your neighborhood. It’s a win-win on a lot of levels, or “We’re checkin’ a lot of boxes here” as my friends and I like to say.

Over the past 3-4 months I’ve started doing more research into the dozens of other programs and companies involved in the Sharing Economy. My mind is continually blown not only at the number of companies and services that exist but the level of engagement throughout the world. For example, Airbnb is an online housing rental platform that allows you to rent private rooms to/from people in 192 countries and over 30,000 cities! It’s a fantastic idea that I feel like everyone is participating in and that I’m being left behind. With that being said, it’s time for me to get involved.

I’m excited to dive head first into anything and everything that I can find in the sharing world and my 30 day lifestyle experiment blog will be a great mechanism to explore the topic. I don’t think I’ll force myself into the frequency of doing a new concept every 30 days but I still have a lot of interest in the idea of lifestyle experimentation. It has been a route toward self improvement for me so experiments in the sharing economy is certainly a logical extension of my last project.

So please feel free to suggest new topics for me to explore. If you’ve had good/bad/indifferent experiences with the Sharing Economy please share those as well (pun intended). My first experiment will be with Airbnb so look out for future posts in the apartment-sharing theme. I’ll be blogging at least weekly but tweeting as often as possible/tolerable. So if you’re Twitter-savvy check out @YoungandUrban, if you’re Facebook savvy check out My Facebook Page, and if you’re neither then wake up and get with the program or you can sign up for an email digest of my blog’s content (see right column of my website). Wish me luck as I spend 2013 doing lifestyle experiments in the Sharing Economy.

Day 22 – RelayRides for Groceries

Posted on January 27, 2012 by The Young Urban Unprofessional

We got back to Boston from two days of climbing sore, tired, hungry, and happy. Immediately after returning to civilization, a few of us gave a winter climbing safety seminar to students from the Tufts Mountain Club. There was no better way to teach this topic than to show up all geared out from a weekend of climbing. After this meeting I had planned to hang out with Sarah. She just moved into a new house and has been complaining about not having any food b/c without a car it’s sometimes hard to get to a grocery store. She has some basics but nothing for a serious meal. However, after a weekend of being out in the cold I wasn’t exactly psyched about going on a grocery shopping adventure. I was more interested in a beer and a nap. However, I knew that it wouldn’t take much effort and it would make her really happy, so it would be a win-win for everyone if I brought her shopping. I offered to use Zipcar or RelayRides to take her to Trader Joes.

Both companies do car sharing by the hour only Zipcar has a fleet of new(ish) cars parked in strategic locations throughout the city while RelayRides is peer-peer car sharing, so you are renting someone else’s car by the hour (the Myers Bridges ENFJ in me makes me like this community sharing model better). To read up about how this process works, both as a car borrower and a car lender, check out their website, it’s actually a quite ingenious concept. We looked up Zipcars in the area but due to the last minute nature of our grocery shopping expedition, the only cars available were $10.75/hour and I didn’t feel great about spending $11 to go to the grocery store. Usually there are $8 cars available of you reserve them ahead of time, but today we were in a time crunch. Then I realized that I had $25 of free driving credit with RelayRides as I am a new member and hadn’t done any driving yet. For all intents and purposes, the process is exactly the same as Zipcar. You login online, put in your location and your timeframe, and search for cars that are conveniently close and in the right price range.

I found a brand new Honda Civic right down the street. I just had to hold my card to the sensor on the windshield and the car unlocked itself. We managed to make it to and from Trader Joes in less than an hour, spending only $6 of my $25 of free driving credit. So I didn’t have to spend any money and I was able to help Sarah stock her kitchen with food. While searching for cars online I found out that someone has a really nice convertible up for rent on RelayRides (they provide bomber insurance apparently). So once the weather gets a bit warmer I plan to do some cruising around with the top down. The best part about it is that the car is someone else’s! Win for me.

Me outside of Trader Joe's in my climbing getup with two of our own shopping bags. Look at us being all green and stuff :)

Sarah was grateful that I used my random act of kindness on her today. She came up with the suggestion for next month’s experiment that I should repeat this month’s experiment only do random acts of kindness for her every day. I said I’d think about it :)

Thanksgiving Continued: Black Friday, Boots in Boulder, and Zipcar to GoodWill

Posted on November 30, 2011 by The Young Urban Unprofessional

One of the biggest events of the weekend besides Thanksgiving itself was obviously Black Friday. We decided to head out to the Mall in Boulder, CO to see what was up. Some of us in our group were on a mission for specific things so why not go to the mall on the day where everything is a zillion % off? I expected total mayhem but it actually wasn’t that bad. I imagine places like Walmart were out of control but we stayed inside the main mall looking around. I mostly just talked to people who were working at the various stores we went into. Many of them remarked, “At least I’m not working at Walmart.” More than a few commented on being there since 4am and that they had slammed down more than a few red bulls since then. Here’s a picture from American Eagle:

Mega line, but still not as bad as I had expected.

I managed to make it through the entire day without buying anything. Previous to Black Friday I joined a petition on Facebook/Twitter for “Buy Nothing Day” where you pledge to lock up your debit/credit cards and not buy anything on Black Friday. I’ve also heard it referred to as “Occupy Christmas” Day but I think I like Buy Nothing Day instead. It was relatively easy considering I didn’t really need anything. Many of the people we were with asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I didn’t quite know how to answer them. I have most all of the gear I need as well as clothes, books, music, etc. I just kind of tagged along and took in the scene. The 100 item challenge definitely helped me to see the commotion on Black Friday through a different lens.

The day after Black Friday, Sarah and I went out on a hike with our friend Nick who lives in Boulder. We did Bear Peak in the Flatirons. Surprisingly enough, I only had on 1 article of clothing on that was strictly for hiking, my lower base layer. Everything else I used either running or just day-day use. Running at 7,000 feet was definitely a humbling experience :) but we hit our 2nd wind after a while and it turned out to be a ton of fun.

Nick and I on the summit of Bear Peak in the Flatirons of Boulder, CO.

On Sunday we headed out to Rocky Mountain National Park for a hike out to Eagle Lake. The hike was in the sun the entire time and the trail had a few feet of snow on it already. We didn’t make it all the way to Eagle Lake because we hadn’t brought snowshoes or crampons so we turned around because of ice. Either way, it definitely whetted my appetite for the Rockies. I’ve got to come out here to spend like 3 weeks just cruising around the mountains.

Not sure of the summit names behind me, but none the less they're pretty epic.

While in Boulder on Saturday we went to a Mountaineering store called Neptunes. I have been on the prowl for new mountaineering boots, thinking that I’d eventually get them for next season, but if a good deal popped up I’d jump on it. Conveniently enough, there was a pair on sale that I’ve had my eyes on. Also, there was only one pair. Sarah convinced me to try them on, turns out they were in my size. What were the chances that there would be the one pair of boots in my size on mega-sale at a store in Boulder that we just happened to go to. I decided to pick them up. I immediately put my old boots on Craigslist and email spammed my climbing friends. I can easily get $100 for them b/c they’re in great shape (just a bit clunky for me). Once I sell them it will be like getting my new boots for 50% off their retail price, score! Good thing I didn’t find them on Buy Nothing Day :) also they are a replacement item, not a new item so it doesn’t add to my 100 item list.

My new Scarpa boots on their maiden voyage in Rocky Mountain National Park. Now if only there was some ice to be climbed, it was a balmy 50F, not great for ice climbing.

These are my old mountaineering boots. They are by the same company just a different style and half the price. I definitely noticed the difference in weight and quality by getting a higher end boot. Super psyched to test them out back in the east.

When we got back to Boston I became sick, something about the altitude change, sharing a house with 8 people and a 3 year old, and taking a red-eye didn’t quite agree with me. So I stayed home from work, slept most of the day and made a trip to GoodWill to offload some odds and ends from my purging this month.

I loaded up a Zipcar with stuff and drove it out to the nearest GoodWill. Renting for 1/2 hours cost about $15. I did some other errands too so it worked out alright.

Here's the GoodWill Store. They had a donation bin just on the inside of the store to put stuff. It was fully loaded so I plopped my trash-bag-o-stuff on top and was on my way.

When undergoing the purge this month I first tried to find friends/family to give things to. Someone reminded me that giving away all of your belongings was a sign of depression and suicide risk. Let me remind everyone that I am indeed happy about my life and this a challenge, not a cry for help :) My next step was to give it away to GoodWill. I did three trips throughout this month. One right when the month started, one at home in Maine (after my brothers picked through it), and one again at the end. The items that were of high value I tried to sell on Craigslist with limited success. I ended up putting a bunch of stuff up for free and within hours people came to my house to snag their new something-or-other.

Only a few more days left, I don’t know exactly how many items I have, but I have a feeling I’m pretty close to 100.

Tuesday October 11th – Coffee, Beer, Hockey, and Car Sharing

Posted on October 12, 2011 by The Young Urban Unprofessional

Today after work I was feeling motivated (albiet largely undercaffienated) so I headed to Boston Common Coffee after work. I had gone there yesterday on Columbus day and decided to give it a 2nd shot. Definitely scored at A+ again; great coffee, comfy leather couches, and free wifi with no time limit. All these are crucial characteristics to make a yuppie happy. I finished my book “50 States in 50 Days” which has taken me longer than normal because I’ve been doing a lot of sleeping on the train instead of reading. It was a super cool book and I decided to celebrate with a beer once I got back to my apartment. It was then pointed out to me through my roommate that hockey was on television so I celebrated with another beer (basically just looking for excuses at this point).

Then I logged into my new account with Relay Rides. This is basically a new rent-by-the-hour car company. It is almost exactly like Zipcar only the cars are shared peer-peer, i.e. you can rent your neighbor’s car when you need it. As the car owner, you get a $1,000,000 insurance policy, you can set your own hours and set your own price, all of this is shown on the website. As the car renter (me) I log in online, type in my zipcode, type in the date/time that I want to rent a car, and the website shows me which cars are available. Gas is paid for with a gas card in the car (comes out of the car owner’s bank account) and mileage is limited to 160miles/day. Long story short, I found a convertible Mercedes Benz literally on my street for $8/hour during the week and $12/hour on the weekends. I’m currently scheming just to take it out for a joyride with a few friends one of these days while the weather is still warm.

Finishing up "50 Jobs in 50 States". Definitely an inspiring read by a super entrepreneurial dude named Daniel.

Took the T to Chinatown to hit up Boston Common Coffee.

A shot from one of the leather couches at Boston Common Coffee. The coffee is great and bags of ground coffee are $12+ which isn't so bad.

Working through some random projects on my laptop while I'm caffienating.

Me being super Yuppie/Emo (self portrait, collard shirt, specialty coffee shop with good feng shui, $3 iced coffee, laptop, and leather couch).

Updating my blog and creating a Facebook page for it. Btw, you should "Like" my blog at the top of this blog post or go here http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Young-Urban-Unprofessional/178102552269773?sk=app_173507912666342 you can also follow me on twitter @youngandurban http://twitter.com/#!/youngandurban

Just finished reading "50 States in 50 Weeks" and celebrating with a Brooklyn Oktoberfest. I'm generally a huge fan of Brooklyn beers but this one was pretty sub par. Still, no complaints though.

This is either my 1st beer because of finishing my book, or my 2nd beer because of watching hockey on t.v. for the first time this season.

Watching hockey on t.v. and checking out the Relay Rides website. Current page is of a Mercedes Benz convertible at $8/hour, sweet :) Definitely go check out this company, sign up for free, and use other people's stuff, it's the best.

Just a picture of my Zipcar and Relay Rides cards. You tap these on the doors of the cars and they unlock for you. Awesome system. We'll see which one I start using more, the peer-peer service with Relay Rides or the service from Zipcar. Zipcar has newer (and probably nicer) cars overall but Relay Rides is cheaper and more community oriented. We'll see.

All in all, I’m excited that the hockey season has started, I’m excited that Oktoberfest beers exist, I’m excited that my birthday is coming, and I’m just generally excited about life. I’m also well-overcaffienated but I suppose that’s self-inflicted. Tomorrow night I’ll be out at Tufts for an young alumni entrepreneurial event, stoked to drop some knowledge (or something) on a bunch of eager undergrads.