Good afternoon. The first item of business is time for reflection, and our time for reflection leader is Chris Hellawell, director of the Edinburgh Tool Library.
Presiding Officer, members of the Scottish Parliament, thank you for the opportunity to address you this afternoon.
I am the parent of a one-year-old and a four-year-old, so sharing is a hot topic in our household. It is one of the most fundamental things that we instil in children, and the mantra “sharing is caring” is repeated in every home, so why is it so much harder for adults to follow?
The Edinburgh Tool Library shares tools with our community. Cordless drills are used on average for only 13 minutes in their lifetime, yet they have a carbon footprint of 26kg and cost at least £50. One of the Edinburgh Tool Library drills has been shared by more than 250 different people.? They did not actually need a drill—they needed a hole in their wall.
Our members have now borrowed items more than 60,000 times, saving money, reducing their environmental impact and avoiding the need to store, maintain and repair items.
Sharing promotes access over excess, or as Edgar Cahn, the father of the Timebanking movement, said:
“We have what we need, if we use what we have.”
Every time we share something, that tool helps to create a little shared history.? Sometimes it is as simple as helping to cut the grass. Sometimes it is installing a wider cat flap when the cat puts on a little weight.? At other times, it is about making something and being proud of yourself, taking the first step towards a new career or painting the first flat that you have lived in without your abusive partner.? Sharing gives people access. Access creates opportunity. Opportunity changes lives.
Sharing objects is only the starting point. Access enables behaviour change and a change in culture. It is leading to a shift away from linear consumption to a more circular way of use and reuse. We share tools to fix, maintain and create, to decarbonise homes, to improve communal spaces and to learn new skills.
To go back to my children, we have recently introduced a new policy to stop the squabbling—if they cannot share something nicely, it gets taken away. Perhaps we need to reflect on our behaviour as a species and realise that, if we are to successfully share this planet with everything else that calls it home, we need to share nicely and show that we care, otherwise it may also get taken away. Thank you.
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