From goat renting to beehive borrowing to sharing a closet of clothes; in honor of Earth Day 2022, we are introducing you to businesses that are pushing resource-sharing for a better planet.
These companies are all doing things we can get behind! After all, Fluid Truck is built on the idea of resource-sharing to create a more sustainable business landscape. You probably know us for truck-sharing, but back in 2016, Fluid Truck’s CEO James Eberhard was trying to put together a platform where people could borrow bow ties from each other!
Okay, that’s not all. The idea was users could lease out anything from hammers to bouncy castles, to moving trucks. Trucks turned out to be the most sought-after item, so Fluid Market became Fluid Truck. Now, let’s spotlight other businesses who are finding ways to share the best they have to offer.
The Honey Ladies
Looking to make a commitment to the environment and your garden? Consider renting a beehive. Yep, it’s a thing!
You can track down a beehive to rent online and by borrowing one, it’s not just your garden that benefits, but also the beehive itself. TheHoneyLadies.com even provides installation and maintenance services called “hive check-ups” with your rented beehive. Talk about a one stop shop!
What are the benefits to beehive sharing? Many people are looking to rent a beehive because they only need it temporarily. Think pollination services only.
Did you know one-third of the food we eat comes from pollination due to honey bees? The FDA says more than 90 crops rely on bee pollination for production. Domesticated honey bees are needed for flowering crops like cherries, blueberries and almonds. Why can’t insects do the job? We simply can’t count on them to pollinate hundreds of acres of crops.
he decline of the bee population is concerning. In 2019, a record number of honey bee colonies died. By renting a beehive, you’re a part of the solution! Each rented beehive helps grow the bee population. Sadly, up to 40% of bee colonies don’t make it each year because of Colony Collapse Disorder.
Considering renting a beehive? Check out the beehive-sharing platform The Honey Ladies here.
Rent a Goat
Looking to landscape your property in an eco-friendly way? Consider renting a goat to do some chomping down on your unwanted plants and invasive weeds.
You heard us right – goat rental is a thing. RentAGoat.com provides goat grazing services to cities across northern and southern California. What all will the goats chow down on? They love the types of vegetation we find harmful to crops! To name a few: star thistle, wild grasses, poison oak, blackberry, English ivy, kudzu, poison ivy, wisteria, and more. How many plants can you count on these goats to take down? A typical goat eats about 8 pounds a day!
Renting a goat to clear out your weeds is an eco-friendly choice. It’s a way to get the job done without using risky chemicals or gas-powered heavy machinery. Another perk? The company points to the reduced fire risk. Who’s taking advantage of these hungry goats? Google is one company! Google has been using goats for years at its Mountain View headquarters to clear the weeds.
“This spring we decided to take a low-carbon approach: Instead of using noisy mowers that run on gasoline and pollute the air, we’ve rented some goats from California Grazing to do the job for us (we’re not “kidding”). A herder brings about 200 goats, and they spend roughly a week with us at Google, eating the grass and fertilizing at the same time. The goats are herded with the help of Jen, a border collie. It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers.”
Outdoorsy
Want to take the trip of a lifetime and get personal with nature? Borrowing an RV can be an eco-friendly option!
Think about it this way: when you’re in an RV you are more aware of water consumption, heating and cooling, and trash output. PKF Consulting found families of four or more that take a trip in an RV produce less carbon dioxide than when traveling by plane, renting a car, or even setting up shop in a hotel each night.
RV Sharing platform Outdoorsy helps you book an RV and helps line-up pickup or drop off. When you own an RV, you’re on your own when it comes to setup and breakdown. One perk of renting from an RV sharing company? Outdoorsy.com says when an RV is delivered to you, you’ll have a resource to help you learn about RV setup from the owner.
The website explains it like this, “hitching up to an RV, moving an RV, and setting up camp are very time-consuming propositions. By finding RV rentals that offer delivery and setup, you could hit your campsite with an RV that’s ready to get you on vacation from minute one.”
Sound fun? Here’s how It works. You plug in a location near where you want your borrowed RV dropped off. More than 60% of the RVs on its website are available for delivery. Then, you can select your address and, boom! A lender is headed your way.
RVShare is another company making it easy to snag an RV from your neighbor for your upcoming road trip.
CORT
“Use. Fix. Reuse. Repeat. Buy.”
That’s the motto for a furniture rental company that promises its business model is “sustainable by nature.”
We’re talking about CORT. The company says its mission is to rent out furniture while reducing its impact on the environment. CORT says renting furniture from the company saves 368,862 tons of CO2 annually compared to competitors who sell new furniture. What is that equivalent of? It breaks it down this way: 70,682 passenger vehicles kept off the road for one year or 36.335 homes’ total energy use for one year. Wowza!
Rent the Runway
You’ve borrowed plenty of clothes from your sister’s closet over the years. What about sharing a closet with thousands of other people to freshen up your wardrobe and help the planet? That’s where Rent the Runway comes into play.
“We’re disrupting a centuries old industry and powering a new frontier for fashion. One in which women buy less, wear more, and contribute to a more sustainable future.”
That’s how RTR describes its efforts to freshen up your closet while cutting down on consumer culture. Did you know the fashion industry is responsible for over 8% of total greenhouse gas emissions? Rent the Runway estimates that its rental model has displaced the need for production of 1.3 million new garments. What does that mean? The company says it is the equivalent of saving 67 million gallons of water. How does renting from RTR change consumer behaviors? Check out these stats. The company found 89% of its customers purchase 89% fewer clothes than they did prior to using the subscription service. It also says 83% of its members said they’ve consumed less “fast fashion” since becoming a member.
“To make it worse, consumers’ appetites for newness are continuing to grow.”
That’s how RTR describes the fast-fashion culture. The company says in 1990 the approximate number of clothing items a person purchased was 40, By 2014 that number jumped to 70. The unsettling truth? 150 million tons of clothing will be in a landfill or burned by 2050 if production continues at its current rate.
We applaud these companies for pushing a sharing economy! If you’re looking for an Earth Day 2022 event, plug your location in here. Want to make your business more sustainable by sharing resources? Find a Fluid Truck near you now!
