The Development of Lendecon’s Vision
Since a very young age, I have had a passion for building and tinkering. I remember following my grandad around his shed learning about all the tools he had used in his career as a builder. As I grew, I started pulling apart my toys and *attempting* to put them back together. When I started highschool and got involved with woodwork, I knew I had found my passion. I would build whatever I could think of using scraps of timber at home. From catapults to little tables. I did have many tools so I would often have to go and borrow them from my grandad or my neighbours.
Thinking Outside The Pallet
At the age of 16, I saw all these wooden pallets being thrown out into a skip and to me that was like throwing away money. I rescued the pallets and turned them into pieces of furniture. That was the beginning of my first company, Thinking Outside The Pallet. It was a win-win. I was able to save a valuable resource and turn it into something people cherished. That sustainable focussed, problem solving mindset has stuck with me.
Sustainable Mindset: Rescuing Resources from Waste
Recently, as I was clearing out my garage, I realised something. A lot of my tools were cheap, low quality brands and had been purchased to help complete a one-off job. I thought about all the natural resources that had gone into making those tools, only for them to sit idly on the shelf, gathering dust. This just didn’t sit right with me. I started to notice this across all aspects of my life, not just my tools. My kayak that I bought and only used 3 times, my bike which got used maybe twice if it was lucky and my 10-person tent which made an appearance once a year. All these things had so many resources and loads of energy embodied in them, yet they were so heavily underutilised.
A Common Dilemma
The more people I talked with, the more I realised how common this was. People living next to each other had the same equipment and yet it was mostly sitting idle. Many products, getting utilised minimally, a totally unsustainable model that leads to excessive waste and demand on raw materials. I thought about how I could improve this model and thought back to what I used to do when I was young. If I didn’t have a tool I needed I would borrow it from a neighbour or my grandad. I knew that borrowing solved the problems. It saves people from needlessly buying low quality products and also increases the utilisation of the tools already in circulation. This would be a big ask however. Enacting a societal shift to a more sustainable mindset and totally changing current practices. The only way to do this is by making the intended outcome more accessible and attractive than the undesirable behaviour.
Borrowing as a Solution: Shaping Lendecon’s Vision
To do this, a platform, which eliminated the struggles of calling everyone you knew asking for a piece of equipment, would need to be built. That’s when I started to build Lendecon. I really wanted it to be a community that provided two-sided value. Lenders get paid to hire out their possessions, which in turn encourages them to buy higher quality equipment. Borrowers get access to the equipment they need and pay a fraction of the cost of purchasing. Not to mention, the waste that is saved from landfill by simply borrowing rather than buying.
Building a Sustainable Future Together
I have very big ambitions for Lendecon and I plan for it to live up to its name and become the Lend-economy that people default to rather than buying junk. Your support on this journey and helping build the community is sincerely appreciated. Together we can enact positive change and build the sustainable future that we desire.
