Why buy the drill when all you want is the hole?

At MIAMI Towers, we've all been enjoying a new book by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers called What's Mine is Yours - How Collaborative Consumption is Changing the Way we Live.

You can read a review of the book on my business blog - I thought it would be worth sharing this with friends and followers of MIAMI too as the book is so close to the principles we espouse ourselves with Make it and Mend it.

It's all about accessing rather than owning - think LoveFilm or StreetCar, about bartering skills, about sharing and swapping - think StreetBank and Landshare. Why buy and accumulate stuff when you can borrow or rent it for the task in hand? Or as Rachel says in the video why buy the drill when all you want is the hole? (Apparently the average power drill gets used for a total of 12 minutes in its entire lifespan).

Check out the review and read the book - or catch Rachel explaining about the concept at TED Sydney in the video below.



Clare Flynn

Waiting for a bus? Why not knit one?

At Make it and Mend it we never cease to be amazed by the creativity of your average knitter. But this latest effort from Cocoon Knits down on the UK's South Coast has sent us to new heights of admiration.

The picture shows a rather fetching 'bus stop cosy', as we've termed it. But Cocoon's knitters are not stopping there...

By this summer they want to have knitted a cover for a open top double decker bus, in order to raise money for a local hospice, The Martletts. The aim is to raise £40,000.

Cocoon want knitters - experienced, beginners or just curious - to pick up their needles and help. Each participant will collect sponsors and knit a minimum of three 15cm x 15cm squares. The minimum sponsorship amount is £25 per entry.

"We’re looking for pink ones, green ones, patterned, striped or any colour you wish. To celebrate the end of the project the bus will be driven along Brighton seafront on the 20th August with contributors and guests aboard."

After the event all blankets will be broken down and sent to Africa with the help of Knit a Square charity.

For more information and to register please go to www.cocoonknits.co.uk 

Anne Caborn