The Environmental Case for the Sharing Economy

From rising carbon emissions to political gridlock in Washington, Americans haven’t had much cause to hold their heads high during the climate debate. Listening to former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson at the New York Forum on Sunday, the future sounded pretty bleak. Paulson drew attention to the potentially devastating impact of climate change as laid out in the Risky Business report. While he talked about how Washington should respond, from pricing carbon to encouraging other countries to preserve biodiversity, the prominent Republican didn’t sound all that confident that lawmakers would lead the way.

Here’s one way U.S. policy-makers could help the planet without sacrificing growth: Embrace the sharing economy. Whether you call it collaborative consumption or peer-to-peer commerce, players such as Airbnb, Uber, and TaskRabbit have helped millions thrive in tough times. The people who rent out their bikes, bathrooms, ballgowns, and brains through such online matchmakers have made money off assets they own. At the same time, tapping under-used assets is good for the planet and cost-effective for consumers. Americans aren’t unique in discovering those perks. In such countries as Greece, up to a quarter of all economic activity comes from people doing business on the side.