It's a red Troy-Bilt lawnmower with a Honda engine. It's self-propelled, has an automatic choke system, a hefty 21-inch blade, select-speed transmission and a three-year warranty. It's a lot of lawnmower. More lawnmower than Susan Lawrence said she could have ever afforded on her own.
Lawrence and her neighbor Shenley Neely, who both live in northeast Gainesville, used to own cheap lawnmowers that broke down often, so they pooled their money to buy a better one than either could have afforded alone.
"We would have never individually bought that quality of a mower. I'm on a tight budget," Lawrence said.
Alex Goldman, a UF graduate student pursuing a doctorate in sociology, launched a Web site to help people share called Sharability.org.
The site offers everything from clothing and accessories to electronics, sports gear and tools.
Goldman said the goal of the Web site is to bring people together to share their belongings with each other rather than buying new ones and creating waste.
"There's a fundamental problem that many people have and that is the accumulation of rarely used stuff, so what I'm trying to do is provide them a way out of the trap of consumerism," Goldman said.
Individuals buy many things that they need to use but don't need to own, Goldman said, and once the item has been bought and used once, or at the very least infrequently, it sits unused in homes, garages and storage spaces.
"It's the idea of balanced reciprocity," Goldman said, "and my argument is that sharing is a really good way to create fundamental economic efficiency."
Jeff Ferrell is a professor of sociology at Texas Christian University and a visiting professor of sociology at the University of Kent in England who studies sharing networks.
"I can say with full certainty that there has been a clear resurgence of sharing since the economy has gone bad," he said in a telephone interview.
He said there are many varieties of sharing networks cropping up all over the U.S. and other countries as well.
"I've seen it in London, I think it's happening in a lot of places," he said.
People have started to use the Web site, but Goldman said there is a long way to go before it is at the level he wants it to be. The hardest part is getting people to take the time to post their belongings.
"I have to convince people who already own cool stuff that sharing it with others is worth their while," Goldman said.
He said that people who don't share as much as they borrow will be flagged as "moochers."
According to Goldman, even though he hasn't researched the legalities of it, his Web site might even provide some legal protection for people who loan items, in that there would be an electronic record of the loan.
To post an item, search for an item or learn about Goldman's project, visit the Web site at www.sharability.org.
