Strategy 1
Support and promote repair, rental and borrowing services to reduce consumption of new goods.
Expanding access to free lending reduces the need to buy new products and eventually dispose of them.
Examples
Public libraries traditionally lend books and media, and many now offer tools, toys, recreational equipment and other items.
Repair services have declined as retail overhead costs have increased, but pop-up repair cafes help restore access to fixing durable goods rather than replacing them. Commonly repaired items include electronics, bikes, clothing, jewelry, shoes, leather goods and household decor.
Renting items for one-time use, like wedding decorations, linens and food service equipment, also helps reduce consumption.
Strategy alignment
| Diversion impact | Significant | High | Important |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community Benefit | Impactful | Inspiring | Hidden |
| Value | Enhanced | Retained | Jobs |
| Ease of implementation | Expandable | Removable barriers | Long-term effort |
Strategy details
Diversion Impact
High
Reducing the consumption of new goods helps minimize the disposal of unused materials. Choosing to borrow or rent fulfills the need for items that are rarely used, while repairing broken products extends their lifespan. Together, these practices reduce the necessity of purchasing new items, promoting a more sustainable approach to everyday living.
Community benefit
Impactful
Expanding opportunities for people to access items satisfies needs and enables more people to use the same item repeatedly. The availability of shared resources builds community. Repair offers opportunity for intergenerational transfer of knowledge with retirees passing on repair knowledge to younger generation. Repair activities can generate income for individuals and provide community access to services. Repairing items generates 200x more jobs than landfilling them according the Material Flow Analysis for the KC Metro Area published in 2025.
Value
Retained
Using items as they were intended, repeatedly retains the original value of the item.
Ease of implementation
Expandable
Libraries are already providing many items through their borrowing services. These can be expanded quickly with little investment. An inventory of borrowing services is needed. Rental services and repair services are also currently available but awareness of these needs to be expanded. RecycleSpot can be enhanced to add these resources to the searchable database.
Getting started
- Create a list of libraries and borrowing services and post on RecycleSpot.
- Meet with library leadership about expanding borrowing services.
- Create a list of repair services and post on RecycleSpot.
- Create a list of rental and refill services and post on RecycleSpot.
Stakeholders
- Libraries
- Local government
- Thrift stores
- Rental services
- Repair services
- Refill services
- ReUseFull
- Maker spaces
- ScrapsKC
- Magpie Creative