Tool Library
Good things come from the ground up. It’s ‘Marketing 101’ that the best way to ensure growth and longevity is by creating a loyal fan base among your customers. Not-For-Profit West Philly Tool Library is growing a community to serve its community.
Right tool for the job
Spare a thought for all those tools sitting in sheds, and storerooms, that are used once or twice a year. The West Philly Tool Library is giving benchwarmer tools the chance to be everyday players. Open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the tool library lends to community members so they can maintain and repair their homes, tend their gardens, build projects, learn new skills, and meet neighbors.
“For $20 a year you can borrow any tool that you might need, instead of buying it or renting it for big bucks.”
Like more than twenty other tool libraries in the US, this is a resource built by and for the local community. It signals an awareness of the impracticality of owning everything, and the possibility of a less waste, more efficiency. The growth of tool libraries also signifies the growth of services around products as part of the delivery experience. And it’s not just tools: communities have started toy libraries as well.
Conscious that they succeed or fail based on the strength of the community they create, the West Philly Tool library has a list of more than 350 tools for rent and an outreach program that engages community members and potential new recruits. Members can post reviews of the service on Yelp.com, and read the blog where they’re invited to post images of the projects they’ve completed using loaned tools. West Philly Tool Library keeps the community active and engaged with events and news items that highlight benefits for each individual member, and the community as a whole.
Case Study
Greensulate
Ecovative Design
Agricultural waste is combined with mushroom roots to literally grow a new form of wall insulation that competes with foams and plastics.
NextPlays blog
#SB10 - Biolite wins Sustainable Innovation award
We're stoked that Biolite won SB10's Sustainable Innovation award, announced on the last day of the conference. Jonathan Cedar, co-inventor and the nascent company's CEO delivered a great presentation that made clear the significant impact that could be achieved if Biolite (and stoves like it) replace traditional wood-fired stoves in the developing world. The Biolite stove reinvents stoves used for home cooking in Asia, Africa and Latin America by making the burning process more efficient. The greater efficiency the less fuel is used and less smoke is generated. Less smoke, the less harm to the health of the cooks. Biolite has an additional feature; they've developed a process that converts a small part of the thermal energy into electricity. This means that users can recharge electrical devices while cooking, and that's got to be good for developing world users facing regular megacity brown outs, or for those who are off the grid completely.
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