Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Catherine Weetman talks to Chris Diplock, in Canada. Chris is the Founder and CEO of The Thingery, the parent organization of neighbourhood Thingery branches, and a leader in Vancouver’s collaborative economy
The Thingery focuses on the development of community-owned lending libraries of things (in other words, a Thingery).
Chris has extensive experience in Vancouver’s Sharing Economy, having co-founded The Vancouver Tool Library and led a city-wide research project called The Sharing Project.
You could describe the Thingery as a ‘library in a box’ – the box being a shipping container! The containers are solar-powered and so can be sited in disused spaces near the communities that will use them. Technology allows people to access the container and then use the built-in systems to easily log what they are borrowing or returning. That means it is less reliant on volunteers and can be open 24/7 if needed. Chris wants to make it easy for any community, worldwide, to set up their own Library of Things. We hear about the concept, the funding model, and the practicalities.
Podcast host Catherine Weetman helps businesses use circular, regenerative and fair solutions to do better, with less.
Stay in touch for free insights and updates…
Read on for more on our guest and links to the people, organisations and other resources we mention.
Links we mention in the episode:
- Contact Chris: Info@thethingery.com
- The Thingery http://thethingery.com/
- Social media
- Books and other companies
- Right to Repair in the EU https://repair.eu/
- Global repair moving iFixit – article about the right to repair https://www.ifixit.com/Right-to-Repair/Intro
- Read more about The Thingery and other Libraries of Things in this article https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/24/library-of-things-borrowing-scheme-conquer-world
- Precious Plastics https://preciousplastic.com/
- The Library of Things, London https://www.libraryofthings.co.uk/
Chris Diplock
A leader in Vancouver’s collaborative economy, Chris Diplock is the Founder and CEO of The Thingery, the parent organization of neighbourhood Thingery branches.
The Thingery focuses on the development of community owned lending libraries of things (a Thingery). Chris has extensive experience in Vancouver Sharing Economy, having co-founded The Vancouver Tool Library and lead a city-wide research project called The Sharing Project.
If you’re new to the circular economy, you might like the ‘getting started’ playlist. There’s also an interactive podcast index, making it easy to find episodes on each of the key circular economy strategies or for a specific market sector. And to dig deeper, please check out Catherine’s award-winning A Circular Economy Handbook, published by Kogan Page.
Please follow the Circular Economy Podcast and let us know what you think on LinkedIn, and if you love this episode, please leave us a review wherever you listen, or send an email…
