IT’S 8pm, I’m going to a festival tomorrow and can’t find my tent. Panic. I message my neighbours: within minutes, there are two tents on offer.
It’s 7am on a Sunday. A friend, who is staying, has an asthma attack but has left her inhaler at home. I put out an appeal on our neighbourhood WhatsApp group. Moments later, there’s an inhaler on my windowsill.
A neighbour is driving home with her young daughter. Her car breaks down 80 miles away. She appeals for help. A neighbour’s friend, who lives nearby, goes to jump-start her car.
These are all everyday happenings when living in a Cohousing community.
Sharing is central to Cohousing where, as well as our own private homes, we have lots of shared facilities and spaces.
When I moved into Lancaster Cohousing 12 years ago, I didn’t quite realise the potential of sharing – both for sustainability and saving money.
We have 41 very energy-efficient eco-homes, plus solar panels, a community-owned hydro and biomass boiler; but sharing adds another dimension, saving carbon and resources in so many ways.
Our shared laundry has four washing machines amongst 40 households – think of the carbon saved by not manufacturing all those extra machines? And being top-of-the-range, they are still working after 12 years of intensive use.
We have a shared food store, bulk-buying ethically-sourced and organic food at wholesale prices. I just pop down the street to do my shopping and don’t need to get an individual delivery or drive into town.
We have a shared monthly bus pass and a shared mobility scooter; my husband used it after having a hip replaced - not something we could afford on our own.
We have two shared guest rooms, so we don’t need a spare bedroom. And people offer space in their homes. When I got married nine years ago, my neighbours hosted 35 of our guests overnight.
We used to have a community car club, sharing six cars amongst 30 households, including two electric and a seven-seater. But recently, insurers have stopped insuring car clubs, so instead I share a car with three neighbours. And people offer lifts all the time. That’s fewer cars and fewer journeys.
And then there is sharing stuff: anything from a power tool to a paddle board. Apparently, an electric drill is, on average, used for only ten or so minutes doing its lifetime – what a waste!
We have our own ‘charity shop’, where people put things they no longer want for anyone to take (free of charge). Anything left goes to Oxfam.
We also share expertise and experience: “Can anyone recommend a five-mile, flattish coastal walk? A campsite on Skye? An osteopath? A light novel set in France? Does anyone know how to get a coffee stain out of a carpet?”
I can’t express how wonderful it is to be part of a sharing community, what a revelation, what a relief, what a joy – both to give and receive.
It’s great that those old boots I loved and no longer use are being loved by someone else, that a neighbour borrowed my paddle board to fish a shopping trolley out of the river, that someone else arranges for my car to be serviced.
I have access to so much, without feeling guilty or spending more than I can afford.
It’s amazing.
I know Cohousing is not alone; a lot of sharing already happens in ordinary streets.
That’s great, and much more is possible. I wonder what you could do where you live?
Alison Cahn is a journalist, filmmaker and artist, who has lived at Lancaster Cohousing since it opened in 2012.
Image copyright: Luke Mills