If ever there was a time for an Ice Ice Baby lyric, it's now:

“Alright, stop. Collaborate and listen.” – Vanilla Ice

Let's pick that verse apart in the context of my motivating chat with Collaborative Consumption pro, Lauren Anderson.

• Alright, stop: Stop what? For starters, let's stop a mindless chase of money, power, and status that doesn't benefit you, me, or anyone else. Instead, let's restart something that's been going on for ages: an economy built around sharing, trust, and the exchange of excess time, skills, and resources.
• Collaborate: How much good can you do by yourself? Not nearly as much as you could do with the help of others. Vanilla Ice had (limited) success going solo, but his roll didn't last nearly as long as it could have if he teamed up with others – and his community – to make an impact.
• Listen: Lauren and I want you to hear this episode so you can go out and make your own Collaborative Consumption mark. You do want to simplify, organize, and be money wise … all at the same time, right?

Just to make sure we're on the same page, Collaborative Consumption describes the shift in societal values from ownership to access. New network technologies (e.g., Airbnb or ZipCar) allow us to be in that classic sweet spot of doing more with less: more renting, lending, swapping, bartering, gifting, and sharing “stuff” on the biggest scale possible.

Here's some of the goodness when you click play.

The point isn't to match demand with new supply. It's actually to create a new kind of supply. – Lauren Anderson

[Tweet That]

There's enough in the world. It's just not distributed well. And we [now] have the tools to access [what] we need. – Lauren Anderson

I had a major breakthrough about ten minutes into my chat with Lauren. And depending on your current Collaborative Consumption knowledge, you may have a lot more than one “Ah ha!” moment.

You're about to Learn …

• Why “growth” is the wrong focus for our economy.
• How to tap into your idle time and skills (even the crazy ones).
• What you can share to make a buck and do good.
• Why Collaborative Consumption is here forever (and always has been).
• How to build trust for strangers to exchange chainsaws.
• Why sharing digital goods is harder than physical items.
• What a “sharable city” is … and how you can have one.

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Resources and Items Mentioned in This Episode:

• Websites:
  • Collaborative Consumption
  • The Lovely
  • Post Growth
  • Shareable.net

• Resources (General):
  • SimpleREV Tickets
  • Office Hours with Lauren at Levo

• Resources (Collaborative Consumption)
  • Collaborative Consumption Services Directory
  • Airbnb
  • TaskRabbit
  • Skillshare
  • RelayRides
  • Lyft
  • Car2Go
  • Nice Ride (Minnesota only)

• Books:
  • What's Mine is Yours

• Lauren on Social Media:
  • Twitter

Topics

• [03:23] Lauren's seeds of awesomeness
• [07:28] What's an economy for?
• [11:24] Empowering yourself through Collaborative Consumption
• [15:46] What affects which services you can use
• [22:04] The challenges of sharing digital goods
• [23:44] Two primary obstacles for Collaborative Consumption critical mass
• [28:32] Why women are more successful at social entrepreneurship

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Transcript

The transcript will not be available until I find a new transcriptionist (if you know someone good, let me know).

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