Is Sharing better than Owning? We calculated it!
- Steffi
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
Tool Libraries and have existed for over 70 years, providing reliable access to tools and machinery for local communities. In fact, the first Tool Library (TL) started in the fall of 1943 as a project of the Boys’ Work Committee of the Grosse Pointe Rotary Club (1). A lot has changed since then. In most places, tools are easy to obtain as manufacturing has massively increased. After the turn of the century, Libraries of Things have gained popularity. In 2018 Circular Library Network (CLN) founder Anna opened the first Tool Library in Reykjavik, Iceland.
From Tool Library to developing our Sharing Stations, we at CLN always had the goal to make the positive impact of sharing visible to clients and their customers. Very limited research is available on how LoTs impact the environmental and social sphere. So in 2024, the CLN conduced a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study as novel attempt to collect and add more data toward showing the environmental impact of sharing versus owning.
We selected the seven most borrowed items from the Reykjavik Tool Libraries based on the data from myTurn, the inventory management system: Handheld Drill, Tent, Carpet Cleaner, Orbital Sander, Sewing Machine, Projector, and Tool Kit. If you are not familiar with LCA - we looked at the complete life cycle of each item from extraction of raw material to end-of-life, meaning, the disposal of the item. This goes beyond a carbon footprint study, as LCA considers multiple impact categories such as water consumption, fossil resource scarcity, or human carcinogenic toxicity.
Each item was assessed with separate reports available per request without using primary data. Using primary data would require to take each tool/ item apart, identify each material and weigh it. All assessments were done with secondary data from studies and websites for replacement parts. So far, the results would show the impacts for the selected impact categories, but we wanted to assess how sharing the item compares with a traditional ownership scenario.
This is where the functional unit comes in. It is essential for a LCA study as it defines the qualitative aspects of the item and quantifies a product system in terms of its performance delivery. For example, the functional unit of a screwdriver could be to:
fasten screws using a manual screwdriver (what)
for 10,000 screws (how much),
for a 10-year period (for how long),
for approximately 1,000 times a year (how many times),
in a household or workshop environment (where).
We decided on each functional unit based on how many minutes each item was used on average, its total expected lifetime, and where/ for what purpose it is used. The usage report from Iceland for the local sharing stations was used for the circular use data. We also accounted for electricity use, and soap and water use for the carpet cleaner. Transport was considered for the tent, as we assumed that its used for recreational purposes outside the city. As all Sharing Stations are walkable, transport for pick-up and drop-off was not considered in the scope of this study.
After data collection and all calculations were done, we saw that the results show us that using the CLN offers significant environmental benefits compared with traditional ownership use. This is due to the fact that a large part of emissions occurs during manufacturing, not during the use phase. So once a tool or item is manufactured, the more it's shared, the greater the environmental benefits. For transparency, we can say that if an item would be picked up and dropped of by car over a long journey, the environmental benefits would decrease. This shows how individual CO2 savings are, and that we have to be realistic about them. In this case, surveys of Tool Library members can help refine our understanding of what transportation modes are used, allowing us to include that data in our calculations.
Our conclusion is that with more Sharing Stations popping up in each neighborhood, the need for taking a car for small items is reduced, and the environmental benefits outweigh.
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