Berm wars!

If you live in Auckland and have been caught up in this ridiculous council business about street-facing lawns being unmowed, here’s our official Green Ideas magazine tip: don’t rush out and buy a new lawnmower!

At least, don’t buy one without first knocking on your neighbour’s door, because this is the perfect opportunity to get involved in the sharing economy, ie. instead of buying tools that sit idle 99 per cent of the time, talk to your neighbours about sharing a mower between you.

If none of you own a mower, three or four people could easily share one. You could take turns at doing the lawns and storing the mower. Or if one person own a mower, maybe they happen to lack a tool like a drill or skillsaw that you own? Would they be happy to loan it to you in return for access to your stuff?

Sharing is a great way to cut needless waste – and summoning up the courage to knock on the neighbour’s door almost always leads to other good things too. BBQs, beers, holiday cat-sitting and better street security are all likely outcomes of making community connections!