A Sharing Community

I just received an email from the Center for a New American Dream with a link to their newly released Guide to Sharing.

It's funny that I just got it today because I had been thinking about this very thing earlier in the day. Since we've gotten our chickens, several people have called dibs on our eggs. (Our hens won't be ready to lay for another 5 months or so.) My mom even bought us a bag of chicken feed in exchange for future eggs. Our neighbor also has given us a bunch of empty beer bottles to use for our home-brewing in exchange for some beer. I could definitely see us building on this model of trade, or "sharing."

The Center's Guide to Sharing provides a plethora of ideas, including book swaps, car sharing, toy libraries, and potlucks, for ways to share in one's community. I'm most interested in the community clothing swap. The step-by-step instructions look like they'd be very useful in organizing one. I've thought about having a clothing swap at my kids' neighborhood school because it could be helpful to families who can't afford to buy new (or used) clothes for their kids. The Guide might be just the spark I need to put this idea into action. Any of my fellow school parents interested in helping out?

The idea that I am most hesitant about is the tool lending library. I don't know if it's a Chicago thing, but everyone I know locks up their tools. Garages are usually cleaned out when a door is left open inadvertently. I knew a plumber who's van was regularly broken into for his tools. Somehow, I don't think a tool lending library would fly in my neighborhood unless everyone had a key to the place where the tools were stored and it was kept a secret from non-participants. That's just my cynical, but realistic, self speaking.

Several months ago, I visited Nettelhorst, a school in the Lakeview neighborhood, along with several parents from my kid's school. Nettelhorst has really taken this community-sharing thing to the max. Most of the amazing work that has been done to the school, both inside and out, has been done for free by members of and businesses in the community. Parents at the school were able to draw on the wide variety of talents available in their area to turn the school into a real place of community.

I think it would be great if my kids' school also could be a place of sharing within the community: providing vegetables from a garden, hosting clothing swaps, offering classes teaching skills to both parents and students, and so on. We've already started working on becoming a focal point by planning to turn the school's asphalt playlot into a green landscape. You can check out the design here.

Before I get ahead of myself with these big dreams, I need to remember that it is better to start small. So I'll just start sharing beer and eggs with my friends and neighbors and see where that takes us. I'll be building a list of things Alan and I can share over time. Hmmm....homemade bread, fresh herbs, lots of kale, Alan's woodworking skills....If I share with you, will you share with me?