Granny Trude
Back after use

Why buy when you can borrow? The Bochum bib der dinge is at the top of Grandma Trude's list of prize-worthy eco-projects. They have everything - from accordions to plum de-stoners.

By Granny Trude

My Dears,

I knew it wouldn’t be hard to tell you about another brilliant eco-project in our Family Challenge. This time around, my daughter Silke can pride herself on finding the new winner. Her discovery won me over in no time. Bochum’s bib der dinge is literally a “library of things” where you can, well, borrow stuff! Now, you can’t get much more sustainable than that. Our whole family’s crazy about the idea – and even a bit envious of folks in Bochum. Now that Silke has briefed me in full, it’s my pleasure to acquaint you with the benefits of such a local borrowing centre and everything that goes with it.

Sustainable Bochum

A whole bunch of them are now up and running around the world, including in Germany, where you can borrow more than just books and electronic media as at a conventional library. But the one in Bochum is special, it seems to stand out from the rest. So let’s head over to Bochum, a city in the Ruhr region of western Germany, where sustainability really seems to loom large. The city administration even has a separate “Climate and Sustainability Department”. And I was gobsmacked when Silke told me the Bochum University of Applied Sciences actually has not just one, but two Master’s programmes on sustainability: one on sustainable development (also a Bachelor’s programme) and the other on “applied sustainability”, which makes me happy and hopeful. 

History

Here, in brief, is how the library of things got started – as you know, I’m a bit of a history buff. The first projects along these lines date back to tool libraries in the 1970s, in Berkeley, California, for example . But these initiatives didn’t really take off in other parts of the world till the financial crisis hit in 2008. Many of the first borrowing centres started up in Germany have since closed down. But Leila, Berlin’s first Leihladen or “borrowing shop”, which opened in 2010, is still going strong – bravo! I really like the idea of professionalizing the lending and borrowing of things, that we don’t all have to own every little thing we might need or want, and we can reduce our consumption of resources by borrowing things – online, too, on platforms like nebenan.de – instead of buying them. After all, there’s no point in producing more of something we’ve already got enough of to go round. 

Just borrow one

My daughter Silke, who lives with her family in Hamburg, went to Bochum, near Germany’s western border, for her fiftieth birthday. She went to the bib der dinge with an old schoolmate who wanted to get some Christmas decorations there. That’s right, Christmas decorations – isn’t that grand! Though you can’t actually borrow them, they’re for keeps: most of the decorative objects at the bib are too fragile to lend out, so they get put on the Tauschtisch. Silke was thrilled about this “swap table”. So many different things to be had there! Which is what’s so special about Bochum’s bib der dinge: its collection is so huge that it fills a whole giant warehouse – and supplies a whole bunch of public libraries and other facilities. 

What does the bib have to offer?

Nearly two thousand items and counting! That’s mighty impressive. They’re mostly donations, but the library keeps a wish list of new stuff to be purchased, including everything from a beer garden set (i.e. table & two benches), various games, an accordion, a plum de-stoner and a 3D printer to costumes and tools of all sorts. So you can probably find just about anything and everything you could possibly need in the household or for leisure-time pursuits. They even have a so-called “cross-line laser” that projects horizontal and vertical lines on a wall – not that I’m likely to be needing one anytime soon. And if I look, say, under the letter W, I find Wasserwaage  (spirit level), Wanderstöcke (walking sticks) and Waffeleisen (waffle iron). These are things I do actually use, albeit very occasionally. So I’m better off borrowing one when I need it and sharing it with others. 

Plan ahead 

I guess you have to be pretty well organized, though. Conversely, if you’re impulsive and want things done without delay, you might not be happy about having to wait till the item you need is available. Let’s say you’ve just bought a new mirror on a whim and want to see it hanging on the wall right away, the fact that the bib der dinge over in Bochum actually has two impact drills won’t be any use to you if you don’t live anywhere near there. Then again, bear in mind that you can order items from the bib der dinge for delivery, free of charge, to your local public library. 

How much does it cost?

€15 to try it out for a month. Or get an annual membership for €100 – or €50 if you’re eligible for a discount. You’re bound to recoup the expense in no time. For example, just think how much money parents can save by borrowing age-appropriate games instead of buying them for such a short period in their children’s lives. 

The benefits at a glance

• Save money: I buy less stuff
• Save space: I’ve less stuff to store 
• Try things out before buying: I avoid bad purchases
• Save resources: I help cut down on unnecessary production
• Get connected: I become part of a great community 
• Clear out your home (remember my column about this?): I donate stuff that I seldom, if ever, use and declutter my home
• Take advantage of workshops there: experts can show me how to make the best possible use of certain items

More information

If you feel like delving a little deeper, co-founder Najine Ameli has even written a book about libraries of things as part of the sharing economy. Silke had talked to her briefly, because Najine Amelie is of course also on site and works together with the volunteer team to make the project better known and to keep it running. They came up with an interesting aspect: One of the biggest problems in our society: we don’t want to give up any of the material wealth we’re so accustomed to, and many items are so cheap that we “just pick one up at the shop”. 

Which makes me all the more delighted that the bib der dinge is so successful. More and more users are borrowing and donating, and they don’t need to sacrifice any of their affluence, even if they don’t own some of things they use. Given today’s high inflation and the energy crisis, Najine expects more and more consumers to make use of their local library of things. I find this thrifty motive a bit sad, but at least it’s helping to bring about a change that can only be good for the planet.

As the German singer-songwriter Herbert Grönemeyer says in “Bochum”, I have a hunch that “things are much better in Bochum than you’d think”.

So share and share alike, my dears!

Granny Trude