The average drill is used for 12 minutes in its entire lifetime. If you borrow a drill for the few times you actually need one, you'll not only be saving on cost but you'll also be saving on the manufacturing emissions, the transport emissions to get it to you and the battery disposal at the end of the drill's life.
In aid of encouraging the “loan, not own” approach to goods, Zero Carbon Guildford and local residents have banded together to promote community sharing and material waste reduction with a Library of Things. In contrast to a conventional library, instead of books, tools and appliances are offered on a loan-based system to all members of the local community. This approach means that this community can have access to items that would otherwise come with significant cost, for free!
The list of borrowable items ranges from maintenance tools like heat guns, socket sets and sanders to general items like power washers, gazebos, and lawnmowers; for those occasions when an expensive item is needed you can check our Library of Things list and you may find a waste-free and money saving solution just around the corner.
ZERO is a volunteer-run climate community hub running multiple events, projects and initiatives in the local area that promote practical solutions to the climate crisis. The Library of Things has been a wonderful addition to the charity, so far we have made quite the significant impact…
The performance so far
Through our volunteer’s effort and word of mouth, the local community has been able to borrow the library's items a total of 221 times since the start of the year! If those individuals were to have purchased these items brand new each time then the cost would have been eye watering, in fact through our Library of Things we have saved Guildford’s community £36,849.30; a figure that is ever increasing. As well as the financial savings, there is also a significant carbon reduction, of which our team is incredibly proud of. Using the 2023 UK governments greenhouse gas conversion factors, we have been able to provide a realistic quantification of people’s decision to borrow instead of buying new.
Based on those emissions factors, the people of Guildford have already saved a total of 5.6 tonnes of carbon over this year! Those 5.6 tonnes of carbon are the equivalent of the lifecycle carbon emissions of 59 brand-new gas-powered lawn mowers, 93 brand-new coffee machines and 18 brand-new power washers. All of which are items that can be borrowed from the Library of Things.
By simply borrowing and using the items from the Library of Things instead of purchasing new items you would be positively impacting the environment and reducing the impact on your own bank account. The item list is ever-growing and there is no limit to the amount of people in the Guildford community that can sign up to the free service. Listed items available at the Library of Things can be found at the following link, simply make an account, and begin borrowing:
Like this initiative? Want to see it continue in #Guildford? Please consider donating to our crowdfunder. We're raising vital funds to help ZERO transition to a new home and we could really use your support 🙏
We’re moving! After 2 years in our wonderful home on Friary Street our lease is up - and it’s time for a fresh start, but we need your help!
To support the move we’re running a Crowdfunder which will help to refurbish our new space, set up all of our displays, and hopefully allow us to employ someone to manage the transition. We’ve done unbelievably well to get this far solely on volunteer power, and everyone involved should be extremely proud. But we can't survive on volunteers alone forever.
To keep up our ambition it’s time to task someone with managing the day to day running of ZERO, its projects, and its wonderful volunteers. We need financial support to ensure we can continue to deliver our vital work. And if you want evidence of this work, check out this blog which shows the impact of all of our fantastic projects and volunteers!
We know times are tight. But if you are able to contribute anything to support our transition we would be enormously grateful, and you can be assured that 100% of your donation will go toward ZCG’s charitable objectives and ensure we can continue our work on restoring nature locally and reducing waste and emissions across the borough.
What’s more, your donation will be matchfunded, and we’ll receive gift aid, so a £100 donation will give £225 to the charity. And you can even get a reward for your donation! Go to our Aviva Crowdfunding page to learn more. Thank you.