NeighborGoods: New Interview with Micki Krimmel and Help with the Pepsi Refresh Project
Amanda Reed, 5 Aug 10
One more Worldchanging team update and cool project to support...
Worldchanging contributor Micki Krimmel, founder of NeighborGoods, a neighborhood peer-to-peer product-service system, participated in a recent interview on Los Angeles's National Public Radio station. Here's an excerpt:
COHEN: The site started locally in Los Angeles, but now has users nationwide sharing $1 million worth of goods. Though users can charge deposit or rental fees, Krimmel says most people are happy to lend for free, just to take pleasure in helping a neighbor out. She adds the site promotes sustainability by reducing waste, and it saves people money.Ms. KRIMMEL: Whenever you add an item to the site, we ask you: How much did you pay for it? And then whenever you lend that out, it tracks how much money you've saved for yourself, and also how much money you've saved your neighbors.
COHEN: When you borrow something, NeighborGoods will send an email congratulating you on saving - for example, $200 on that electric lawnmower. They'll also ask you to contribute 5 percent of that amount back to the site to help keep it running.
So far, it's worked.
With the recent launch of NeighborGoods as a U.S.-wide website, the company is fundraising for a marketing campaign, new website design, new mobile applications, and the ability to coordinate group events and block parties. They want to build on their early success and carry on the momentum of being, according to Krimmel, "the fastest-growing peer-to-peer lending/renting site out there." If you'd like to help them raise money (at no cost to you!), please vote for them at the Pepsi Refresh Project and help them win a US$50,000 grant. You can also vote through Facebook or via text message: text 101391 to Pepsi (73774). Visitors may vote for NeighborGoods once each day through the end of the August.
"Our success in recent weeks proves that Americans are looking for ways to connect with their local neighborhoods," said Krimmel. "We're a completely community-driven service and we're counting on our community to help us win the Pepsi Refresh contest. With just one vote each day, our members and supporters can help us win the money we need to keep working toward our mission."
This sounds a lot like another website I’ve recently been introduced to called http://www.rentalic.com It’s also a person-to-person rental site where you can let people rent any items you have sitting around and seldom use and you can also rent “special occasion items” when you need them without buying them. But on rentalic everyone can see all the items and some items aren’t limited to premium members only. It’s pretty cool. I think it’s worth checking it out. Rentalic was the 1st place grand prize winner for PayPal developer challenge innovation competition. It’s kind of a cool new way to be green and sustainable and I think it has a lot of potential.
Posted by: Angela on 16 Aug 10
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