[Note: This interview was written for the February 2007 Urban Alliance for Sustainability Newsletter, available at www.uas.coop.]
Would the world be a better place if we all just learned how to share? SpaceShare founder Stephen Cataldo thinks so. Imagine a society where we all have access to more while owning less, where local communities rally around their strengths and weaknesses and truly know each other, where idea is replaced by action originating from the true joy of being green. SpaceShare has been employing a mix of education and web technology to “help people rely more on and strengthen their communities, while relying less on oil and resources.”
Stephen embodies the idea of action and activation. Personally, his vegan diet, lack of a car and commitment to local, progressive economies — in his words, “putting money back into hands of others doing it right” — exemplify a sustainable lifestyle. But his passion for a very simple idea — sharing — blurs the line between his personal and professional life. “I like finding little ways to inculcate activism into the community”, he says. This philosophy imbues SpaceShare with incredible potential for radically transforming community through deceptively simple actions.
The SpaceShare model is simple — custom websites are created for short-term communities like conferences and festivals to coordinate resource sharing for participants from near and far. Carpools and taxi rides, hotel rooms, couches and meet-ups can all be organized using SpaceShare’s forums and reservation system. The results have been tremendous. Stephen cites the recent example of the 2007 Media Reform Conference held this January in Memphis, Tennessee (www.freepress.net/conference/). Out of the 3000 plus media reformers who attended the conference, over 350 signed up for SpaceShare’s services, an astounding 10% participation rate. Stephen tells how SpaceShare enabled some to attend the conference that would not have been able to otherwise. Beyond the obvious reduction of carbon emissions, he also excitedly estimates that many thousands of dollars were kept in progressive coffers instead of going out to corporations by savings on hotel rooms alone.
Resource conservation and local economies aside, the biggest impact of SpaceSpare could well be the act of sharing itself. Participants are left with the experience of action and community that will reverberate when they return home and back to their normal routines. “SpaceShare fits a unique niche,” Stephen observes,” It’s about teaching through practice, not through talk.” Unlike lectures or other forms of education, he feels that SpaceShare users will “understand the vision when they do it, not when they are told.”
In a few short years of operation, Stephen has a long list of success stories and inspiring anecdotes. When asked about why he started SpaceShare, he answers with a smile: “I wanted people to give me rides.” People make friends through sharing, the matching engines can be used to connect activists as well as carpoolers, and at least one local chapter of a progressive organization arose from a SpaceShare carpool. Hearing feedback from people about how much they enjoyed giving is the most satisfying aspect of SpaceShare for Stephen. “People saved resources and made a friend and, after doing it,” he adds, “they realize they liked being green.”
The future vision for SpaceShare is bright and broad, though facing the usual growing pains of an under-capitalized social enterprise. Stephen says that “SpaceShare is all about bringing sharing to communities that wouldn’t have done it otherwise,” and he’s not just talking about oil-addicted Californians. In 2007 SpaceShare will set its sights on synagogues and churchs, from Berkeley to the Midwest. “Imagine a mega-church carpooling!”
SpaceShare has faced different hurdles than expected: “It’s been easier than expected to get a conference in Middle-America to explore carpooling.” The number one frustration for Stephen: “Event planners that don’t return phone calls.” Stephen feels that this model of resource sharing is poised for success- “people across the country are ready to make this change” if only environmental activists build the infrastructure to support it. “The only challenge is doing it,” he says. “If we do it, people are ready for it — I see no other bottlenecks in getting communities to participate.”
If you see the radical potential in the simple act of sharing, visit www.SpaceShare.com to take advantage of their services for conferences, festivals and connecting with like-minded folks. If you are attending a conference that isn’t using SpaceShare, let the organizers know about it! Finally, SpaceShare is looking for dependable, energetic volunteers and paid-staff to help grow this vision. Contact Stephen at info@SpaceShare.com.
Filed under: Real Writing, Sustainability
