Sharing Economy – sharing, borrowing, hiring. We are now discovering a new attitude to life.

Temporary drilling and sitting

Although sharing is well-established in areas such as mobility and travelling, the sharing economy is only just taking off in the lifestyle sector and particularly in Switzerland. Only at the beginning of December 2018 was the first borrowing bar opened in Switzerland by the Foundation for Consumer Protection. Here anyone can hire exactly what they need at the time for the price of a coffee per month: from the crockery set for a party to the rubber boat or outdoor projector for an unusual evening of cinema.

Another example: The sharing pioneer Pumpipumpe.ch. The association was founded in Bern in 2012, even before Airbnb and now operates across Europe: While the community was previously only able to order stickers, which showed what neighbours could borrow on people’s own letter boxes, a digital map is now available. With just a few clicks, you can find out which neighbours are lending something in the neighbourhood. A step into the future, which the association took at the end of 2017. When it comes to hiring and renting out, the platform Sharely.ch has already made a name for itself in Switzerland. It already has 15,000 users, who share their property or want to hire something and new users and items are being added every day. «The dynamics on Sharely have clearly accelerated and if it continues like this, we should be able to reach the break-even point at the end of 2020», says Sharely founder Andreas Amstutz. Sharely only launched its sharing app last year. An important step to reach the sharing community more easily and one, which the start-up took at exactly the right time.

This is because an increasing number of people are discovering minimalism as a lifestyle choice for themselves. They don’t want to own things, but will borrow whatever they need at the time. «In the meantime the sharing economy has become more “grown-up” and users know what a peer-to-peer platform is and regard hiring and lending items in a much more relaxed way than in the beginning», says Amstutz. Awareness of sustainability is also growing in Switzerland and the sharing economy is being treated as part of the solution in the battle against climate change.

The two faces of sharing

However, the sustainability coin has two sides and one of them is not at all shiny. This is because anyone who shares is not only saving resources, but also cash. «If the saved money is spent on other things, such as for a short trip to London, the sustainability effect has come to nothing» says Martin Peter. He is the Business and Environment Division Manager at the Infras research institute and co-author of the study «Sharing Economy – sharing instead of owning». «In extreme cases the overall effect of the sharing economy can also lead to an increase in the use of resources», explains Peter and gives an example. Although it would save resources if neighbours were to share a lawnmower, instead of each buying their own. «However, the decisive factor for the overall effect is what happens to the money, which people are saving.» If more of other things are consumed thanks to sharing and those things use more resources than the lawnmower that hasn’t been purchased – whether it’s now the additional hot air balloon trip or the larger LED television – then more resources are being used with the sharing economy instead of fewer. «The high average income permits such behaviour precisely in Switzerland.» It’s clear for Peter: «So that sharing and borrowing really save resources and become part of sustainable consumption, we need to have a re-think about using our resources with greater awareness.»

Someone, who sees things in exactly the same way, is Raffael Wüthrich. He is the project manager of the borrowing bar and is responsible for the Sustainability Division at the Foundation for Consumer protection. «I am sceptical about whether the sharing economy in Switzerland actually contributes very much towards saving resources», says Wüthrich. «In Switzerland lots of people can afford almost everything.» It’s therefore very easy to lend things out and pay for the next cheap flight with the money saved. «We want to counteract this mentality of consumption with the borrowing bar project – without any loss of prosperity.» Although the initial experiences seem to show that above all the people who lend things out are already very conscious about sustainable consumption. «But with the borrowing bar we want to appeal to a much wider audience and provide information about a sustainable lifestyle.»

40, male, educated, seeks

But what does this mean for an audience, which is prepared to share and lend? In the «Sharing Economy – sharing instead of owning» study the authors investigated precisely this question among others. For example men are more prepared to share than women. In addition, 36 to 55 year-olds are more likely to share and lend. Two other features: Anyone who earns really good money and has a university degree – in other words a good education – prefers to borrow something rather than buying it, or hires out his camping equipment.