Millennials Embracing Collaborative Consumption

by Kevin Makice

Zipcar, the car-sharing service, did a study that says millennials like to share instead of own.

The Zipcar survey, now in its second year, shows that millennials—comprising 23% of our population—are becoming more open to sharing vehicles and less likely to drive, stating environmental concerns as a big motivating factor. Zipcar CEO Scott Griffith argues that designers, manufacturers, and policy makers need to take note:

Our most forward-looking policy makers are thinking about housing, land use, highways, bridges and gas taxes like it’s 2015 rather than 1971.  It is my hope that these thought leaders will inspire a broader dialogue on mobility policy instead of sticking with an outdated transportation policy that directs limited funds almost exclusively toward highways.

Setting aside any bias in the source of that finding, the collaborative consumption movement is evident elsewhere, too, in everything from media to homes. The way our society views material goods, large and small, appears to be de-emphasizing ownership.

Shareable (December 21, 2011 by Beth Buczynski)