Editor’s note: Green Briefs is a regular series of commentaries by eco-leaders on Vashon, presented in The Beachcomber in partnership with The Whole Vashon Project.

The “sharing economy” is defined by Wikipedia as “a socio-economic system whereby consumers share in the creation, production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods, and services.” The concept first appeared nearly 100 years ago, motivated by global population growth and resource depletion and usually modeled after book-lending libraries.

The term has now greatly expanded in scope to include any peer-to-peer transaction facilitated by IT without the transfer of ownership, including both non-profit and for-profit organizations utilizing gig-workers in the travel, car sharing, finance, staffing, streaming, and other sectors.

Some commercial examples include Airbnb, Uber, WeWork, eBay, LetGo, Prosper, LendingClub, Sparetoolz, Doordash, Seamless, Instacart, etc. Many are accessible on Vashon.

This article focuses on one of our premier non-profit (501c3) sharing economy organizations: Vashon MakerSpace (VMS), the umbrella for Vashon Tool Library (VTL), Vashon Fix-It Cafe, and the educational arm, also called VMS.

The main VMS mission is to strengthen and enhance the Vashon community by developing shared resources that support community education, knowledge, innovation, creativity, sustainability, and resilience.

As one of the eight lending libraries on Vashon, the VTL focuses on tools and has been doing its best to build our community over the last 10 years by providing tools to borrow. Why should everyone have to purchase and store items they might not need for regular use?

To borrow tools for a week, you simply need to become a member. As an all-volunteer organization, VTL operates on donations and grants.

Additional benefits include reducing negative environmental impacts by decreasing the amount of goods needed to be produced, and cutting down on industrial pollution, carbon footprint, and the overall consumption of resources by reusing and repurposing existing items.

The VTL is located next to the Open Space for Arts and Community and is open three days per week for 3 hours per day (Wednesday evening, Saturday morning & Sunday afternoon). VTL is staffed by volunteer librarians, and you, too, can be one — it’s a great way to spend your time and VTL needs your help.

A vast majority of VTL’s 1500 tools were donated by islanders. When we get too many of the same tools, annual tool sales generate funds to purchase much needed new ones. View our tool inventory online at https://vashontools.org/. Note that the VTL inventory only includes hand tools and electric powered tools, no gas-powered tools.

The Vashon Fix-It Cafe has been collaborating with Zero Waste Vashon, the Eagles and Open Space, organizing 18 events over the last six years which have kept many tons of waste out of the landfill and saved islanders from having to purchase new items.

We experimented with a new model to “enlighten” youth with our first Youth Fix-It Academy at Open Space’s ORBIT last May, focusing on wiring and lamp repair, thanks to funding from the King County EcoConsumer program.

We welcome new fixers to join in on these extremely satisfying events. We also collaborate with Repair Economy Washington, a collaborative initiative built by fixers, tool librarians and makers throughout Washington State and the Pacific NW.

VMS has built an Educational Studio at the Open Space where classes are offered on a variety of topics such as woodworking, shed construction, spoon carving, tool sharpening, sewing, and fly fishing. We collaborate with VISD and Vashon Parks to offer Introductory Woodworking classes at the Vashon High School Woodshop.

VMS would like to expand its course offerings and welcomes your ideas for courses and instructors. Our long term vision is for an integrated group of studios and shops (much additional space is needed for these!), each led by a steering committee, and potentially including woodworking, metalworking, home repair, pottery, ceramics, jewelry, textiles, robotics, computer-aided design, 3D printing, and laser engraving.

VMS also needs and seeks committed volunteers and welcomes your involvement in this vibrant organization.

VMS led the formation of Vashon’s first library coalition, gathering representatives from eight different island-lending institutions to celebrate International Library Week in April, 2022. Thanks to the support of Vashon Events, this webpage provides information on each of them.

If you haven’t already (thanks to all our volunteers!), will you join us in advancing Vashon’s Sharing Economy for the good of our community?

Steve Bergman is a geologist, Zero Waste Vashon and Vashon Makerspace board member, and Whole Vashon Project advisor.