It's Easy Being Green

We all know times are tough and our money just doesn’t stretch quite as far as we want it to these days. For all those people who have stretched themselves as thin as they possibly could have, I think this economic contraction is something they need to go through.

We all know who these people are and more than likely you have one of them as a neighbor. I’m talking about the family who drives nothing but large trucks and SUV’s, has the brand new toy hauler trailer with living compartment that is stuffed to the gills with ATV’s (one for each family member), a boat, motorhome and just about any other largely expensive toy you can think of.

Back in Arizona, there were more of those types of people than I could count on my hands just living within a block or two of us. I know that none of it was actually purchased with cash. Most was probably bought with some whopping huge credit lines that they’ll be paying on for the rest of their life. I’m glad to see that some of them are struggling enough that they’re finally giving all that “stuff” up. Sure part of it is probably selfishness on my part but the rest is some sort of hope that people will quit over-extending themselves and buying unnecessary crap.

Indiana has been an eye-opener for the same sort of reasons, looking and listening to each neighbor up and down the block taking care of their yard. Each person has a lawn mower, leaf blower, weed whacker, edger and any other accessory to dominate their patch of land with. It makes me think what a waste it is for each person to go out and spend their money on their own lawn mower and accessories.

That’s why the idea of Neighborrow has perked my interest. It’s based on neighbors working together, sharing the resources they may have with another neighbor. It’s an I’ll share my lawn mower with you if you share your weed whacker with me principle. Why the idea hasn’t caught on more is beside me but I think it’s great. My Freecycled lawnmower isn’t working at the moment but my next-door neighbor has been letting me borrow his. He doesn’t have to look at an overgrown lawn next door and I even mow his section of yard bordering our shared pond every now and then.

Speaking of my non-working mower, I’ve been on the lookout for someone who repairs mowers for a living. I found one and dropped in to have a conversation with him about my mower. I’m not too keen on spending a lot of money to get it fixed. After all, it is a gas guzzling, air polluting mower and I’ve been eying some of the electric or push variety for a few months now. Instead of paying full price for a repair, I asked him if he would consider taking my old mower and selling me one of his repaired ones at a discounted rate. It would be like a trade-in credit at the car lot. Not a straight barter but I’d get something and so would he.

He said no. It left me to wonder how bad he was really hurting in this economic downturn. Shouldn’t we be thinking about more smart and creative ways to interact and help each other out other than just the straight transaction of cash from one person to the other? What do you think?

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