The Common Library

Greenshare is a unique co-operative lending library where each member lists some items that they're prepared to lend out. Perhaps a tool that they only use once every few months, or a book they haven't picked up in ages. What good is it doing gathering dust in your house?

Greenshare works on a local basis for members of the Green Party. The system is currently under trial in York, but a system for Sheffield Green Party is in the pipeline. Get in touch if you'd like to arrange a Greenshare system for your local party.

Share and share alike

By pooling resources, we can reduce the amount of stuff we have to buy overall. Do you ever find yourself buying something you know you're only going to need for a short while? Maybe you don't have to.

How it works

1. Seach or browse the Greenshare listings to find the thing you want
2. Click on 'borrow item' to request the loan
3. You now find out who the owner is and get details of how to contact them. It's up to the borrower to arrange collection.
4. When you've finished with the item, you return it and the owner checks it back in on the system.

How can I trust it?

To borrow anything from Greenshare you have to be listing something of your own that you're prepared to loan out. If someone abuses the system - either by refusing to supply an item they've listed, or failing to return an item - they are at the mercy of their local administrator. Normally, they will be served with a warning notice which lasts 6 months, but repeat offenders will be cast out of the system altogether. And because it works on Green Party records, you can be sure that fraudsters aren't simply creating themselves new profiles as they might on eBay.

Click here to download a .pdf leaflet about Greenshare.