A while back I found myself on the receiving end of a bunch of whole spices -- nutmeg, cinnamon sticks, etc. -- and no way to grind them.  Having made the commitment to reduce my consumption by buying fewer new things (epecially those made from plastic), I quickly jumped on Freecycle and Craigslist to see if I could find a spice grinder used.  Fortunately, there were none available that day because it suddenly hit me.  I'm no cook.  I'll probably use this thing once or twice in my life. 

Why would I buy myself a spice grinder to be used a couple of times and then clutter up my kitchen for years afterward? Why not just borrow one from a friend?

Seem obvious?  It wasn't to me.  And apparently, it's not to most of us who continue to buy useless or seldom used gadgets, seldom read books, seldom viewed DVDs, seldom enjoyed STUFF! There's too much stuff in the world already.  (Have you seen The Story of Stuff, by the way?  If not, please watch it NOW and then come back and read the rest of this post.)

Well, after finding a friend with a spice grinder, using it, and successfully getting it back to her intact, I realized that sharing was not only the greenest practice but also the cheapest, and I started to think about what other things I could borrow instead of buy. 

Books, music, and videos from my local library were the first things that came to mind.  How many of us have piles of books, CDs, and videos that we'll probably never read, listen to, or watch again cluttering up our lives?  Not only can we borrow from the library, but there are other ways to exchange books, music, and videos with other people through "swap sites."  According to The Green Phonebooth, these sites include:

Paperback Swap, Book Mooch, Title Trader, What's On My Bookshelf, Swap A CD, Swap A DVD, Swap Tree, and the like. These sites allow you to build up credits by sending the item type (book, CD, etc) to someone else in the service. You can then use your credits to request particular books from other club members.

And Jenn from Tiny Choices mentions the Lending Library Facebook app as well.

Tools and gadgets are available not only from friends but in some cities, from Tool Lending Libraries.  In fact, when I needed to mow a postage stamp area of grass, aka my front yard, this spring, I found a manual push mower down the street at our Temescal Tool Library and pushed that thing all the way to my house, across the grass a few times, and then back down to the library.  In this area, where it rains so infrequently and grass struggles to grow, I just don't need to own and store a mower for the one time a year it's useful.  

Do you have a tool library in your area?   Wikipedia has a list of some of the tool libraries in the world.  And Heather of The Greenest Dollar has written a comprehensive post about tool libraries and how to create one if there is none already in your area.  In "How to Set Up a Community Lending Library," she says:

The idea is simple: people in a community pool items they own to share with everyone. Some communities choose to set up the lending library in their local, book-based library, but other communities have set up lending libraries out of their own homes or community centers. Even more operate lending libraries entirely over the internet.

She goes on to provide tips and resources for creating your own, including an existing online service called Neighborrow.

Children's clothing, toys, & equipment can be shared with other families via Zwaggle, a service introduced to many of us at last year's BlogHer Conference.  According to the site, "You receive Zwaggle points (or Zoints) by giving your gently used things to other families, then use those Zoints to obtain 'new' things for your family."  So instead of cluttering up our homes with toys our children no longer play with or clothing they can't wear, we can trade for more useful items.  And the beauty of Zwaggle and the other "swap" sites (where we are not borrowing in the strictest sense) is that you have to give in order to get.  So we are still reducing the total amount of stuff piling up in our lives.

Suitcases are not something we think of borrowing from friends.  But Katy Wolk-Stanley, The Non-Consumer Advocate, would!  Read her posts about mooching suitcases and many other things, as well as rules for successful moochery: 

Are you a mooch? I am. Big time. But here’s the thing. I’m only a mooch with people who are willing to return the sentiment.

And speaking of travel essentials, Jenn & Karina from Tiny Choices borrow soap containers and electricity converters and urge all of us to think about borrowing before buying things we use infrequently.

Carsharing is growing in popularity, especially in urban areas where traffic congestion and great public transit combine to make owning a car not only unnecessary but undesirable.   I've mentioned here that instead of owning a car, my husband and I walk, bike, and take public transit.  But for the times we need to leave town or haul something big, we have a Zip Car membership.

Susanna from Cheap Like Me has written a comprehensive post about car-sharing, how it works, and how much money we can save through borrowing instead of buying.  In "Car sharing - borrow your second (or first!) car," she says:

For people who only use a car occasionally, owning a car is a hard pill to swallow. Occasional Car has statistics on its site that say car ownership averages $7,000 to $8,000 annually — easy to imagine if a car payment is $300 or more monthly, gas and insurance run another $300, and maintenance adds up.

What items have you borrowed from friends or through borrowing services? Are you a successful mooch?  What tips do you have to make borrowing work smoothly?  And why do you think so many of us feel the need to hoard own our own stuff?

Beth Terry writes about finding creative ways to reduce her plastic consumption and plastic waste at Fake Plastic Fish and encourages others to join the fun. We only have one planet. Let's enjoy it instead of cluttering it up with more plastic crap!