Product Sharing

Product sharing, an in-between of public and private ownership, is one strategy of minimizing ecological impact. Rather than presuming that individual ownership (where each entity owns their “own,” according to their wants) is the best system of consumer acquisition and distribution, product sharing aims to make joint use a viable and desirable alternative.

[Page 363]Product sharing has five main benefits to people and the environment:

• Product sharing reduces the number of items produced:
• It may expand the number of users, and may provide access to those who could not otherwise afford use of the product.
• As costs are minimized, product sharing potentially gives people the possibility to select more efficient and durable products, rather than going with the cheapest option. (This can also influence the design of products to ...