Cotroshare
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
Category
Project Description
As the first library of things in Romania, Cotroshare aims to promote a circular and more collaborative economy. Using the online platform, and then the branded caravan, the members of the community will borrow and lend useful objects, saving money and time. The project will also become a learning hub where everyone can participate at social events, educative seminars regarding sustainability, free practical workshops, or interactive events for children.
Geographical Scope
Project Region
Urban or rural issues
Physical or other transformations
EU Programme or fund
Which funds
Description of the project
Summary
As the first library of things in Romania, Cotroshare aims to promote a circular and more collaborative economy by encouraging the community to save money and reduce waste while learning new skills. The project will also become a learning hub where everyone can participate in social events (swap meets), educational seminars regarding sustainability (recycling, reducing waste, community composting), or free practical workshops (repair cafes, reconditioning furniture, Do It Yourself projects). We’ll have regular events dedicated to children (recycling races, educational treasure hunts on bikes, innovative upcycling workshops like creating paper from used paper) to build them an eco-friendly mindset and healthy environment-conservation habits.
Cotroshare will have an online platform where the neighbors can add the tools they want to lend and see what other articles are available. Using the website, people can make reservations and then meet to borrow the objects they need. Furthermore, we shall set up a physical location, a storage unit where some of the items will be securely kept and conveniently accessed using a security code. The storage unit will be a mobile caravan branded and painted by an artist who is part of the initiative group; it will be located in a visible and safe area.
Due to the novelty of the project in Romania, we are confident that the project will benefit from wide national media coverage. We have communication specialists among the team, and they have developed a one-year communication plan.
The project will start in one of the tight-knitted neighborhoods from Bucharest called Cotroceni (hence the name Cotroshare). We intend to grow the project gradually as the assimilation rate increases and more people from other parts of the city become aware of the initiative. In the future, we hope to open more similar facilities in other small cities from Romania.
Key objectives for sustainability
The poor waste management and the consumerism drive led to an unprecedented environmental crisis. Today humanity uses the equivalent of 1.75 Earths to provide the resources we use and absorb our waste, based on the 2022 edition of the National Footprint and Biocapacity Accounts. Things are not built to last for long, and people are encouraged to buy new things. In the meantime, the waste pile is getting bigger and bigger. While governments from all around the world are trying to find solutions to delay the impending ecological collapse, individuals also can take action. The solution is obvious: we should put our resources in common and empower people to live more sustainable lives.
Cotroshare will reduce the consumption of resources and the production of waste by the community involved in the project. If each one of us owns a power drill that we rarely use, then the pollution generated by the production of all these tools is considerably larger compared to the resources used to create just one power drill. We should also take into consideration the lack of materials and the global ecological crises that add more weight to the problem. Our library of things is the answer that will lead to less waste and more qualitative products that can be repaired to increase the longevity of their life cycle.
One of our main goals is to introduce a more eco-friendly way of life to the people. That is why we shall organize educative sessions open for the general public where we explain basic concepts, such as recycling, ways to reduce consumption and waste, community composting, or reducing our individual carbon footprint. We shall organize monthly swap meets between members to introduce the spirit of circularity to the community. Children represent a key audience because we have a long-term approach to sustainability. We’ll capture their attention using interactive games (recycling races, educative treasure hunts on bikes in the neighborhood during which
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
If things are put in common it does not mean that they are cheap, low-quality products. We shall also equip the library with some of the most demanded high-quality products.
Most people don’t have the money or storage space to buy things they rarely use. 80% of household items are used less than once per month. Clearing the people’s houses of these objects will lead to better use of the space, allowing the owners to focus more on the design of their home. A decluttered house will become a better and more qualitative environment, with extended benefits to the mind and the soul of the hosts.
The storage facility will be a place where functionality and design go hand in hand. We have architects and artists in our group, and they will join their efforts to create a welcoming and creative space, both inside and outside. The exterior will be painted and branded to attract attention, using artistic symbols that define our key concepts. Inside, the members will discover a friendly and well-organized space that uses creative signs for the different categories of things.
Last, the upcycled workshops will offer children and adults the possibility to practice their creativity while creating new beautiful and practical objects.
Key objectives for inclusion
A key goal of Cotroshare is to create a community-powered center, a safe place where everyone can contribute with resources or knowledge for the greater good.
Cotroshare will help members save money and time. Instead of buying all the products they rarely use, the members can borrow them from the library and use the savings for more important aspects of their lives. At the same time, people gain access to more things and more skills without spending money.
Cotroshare will regularly host practical workshops that teach the community how to repair things: cloth, electronics, furniture. Also, the members can attend upcycling sessions that will teach them how to create new valuable and helpful products using discarded objects. People can learn to sew, refurbish their furniture, or use electric tools. These new-learned abilities can be used to create valuable things and to pass on the craftsmanship to future generations. This also facilitates communication and socialization between different age groups, reinforcing the feelings of belonging and usefulness for the seniors.
Each new exchange of products could mean a new, pleasant interaction with a new neighbor that can bring strong community ties. Community is critical to our overall well-being, especially after the pandemic outburst and the unsettling global context.
Physical or other transformations
Innovative character
Cotroshare wants to empower people to live sustainable lives by giving them free access to a platform that shows them the benefits of the circular economy. The members of the community formed around the project will discover useful information, will exercise their creative muscles to create beautiful, upcycled objects, and will discover like-minded people along the way. The people will have free access to new skills and experiences that will open their minds and soul, building strong ties inside the group.
The project brings together, in a natural and cursive manner, different categories of people and connects them using their common interests (already cultivated or new-found). Cotroshare integrates a multitude of economic, social, environmental, collaborative, and educative aspects.
