The Economy of Collaborative Consumption

Co-founder at Favortree Micki Krimmel shows the potential of collaborative consumption in this sharing keynote. Krimmel shows how in America, people are inefficient owners, which is proven with the statistic that 80 percent of the stuff people own get used less than once per month. The solution can be seen in a sharing economy, becoming an economy of access as opposed to ownership. It is especially important in times of economic uncertainty when people come together utilizing bartering and social capital to get the things that they need.

Krimmel shows both the financial and environmental benefits of sharing goods through sites like resource-sharing online community NeighborGoods, but most importantly the social benefit that comes from it. There is a social value by sharing goods as it provides an opportunity to create a relationship, hence improving the quality of the neighborhood and rebuilding the trust in local communities. Most importantly, this sharing keynote points out a childhood life lesson that people need to keep in mind that sharing is caring.