Swap and Share Your Stuff

I recently came across this video on www.ted.com, and it was the first time I'd ever heard of a network of trading goods instead of buying them. The idea is that you've got plenty of stuff around the house that you either won't use anymore (books you've read, movies you've seen) or that you only use rarely (electric drill, kitchen torch), and that it would be much more beneficial to the planet and your wallet, if you could trade or share those things with others.

The talk is about 20 minutes, so not really within the scope of this blog, but doing a search on one of the websites that help you trade your stuff, is a matter of minutes.
So far, I've only come across the American website www.swap.com, and some UK ones (see links at the bottom) but I'm sure they have them in other countries too! If you find one for where you live, please share it in a comment below so I can edit the post!

Surf to the website. At the top, you'll see a 'join now' button to click on. This should only take about 1 minute. You can sign up using your Facebook account, or if you don't have Facebook, just create an account. So far, it's only for US residents, but let's hope it spreads quickly!
Add some 'haves' to your list, or search for what you want, and see who you can trade with. It's as easy as that.

When you're thinking of buying something you only need on a rare occasion (like a chainsaw or a certain kitchen appliance) see if you have any friends who need the same item so you can buy it together.
This idea already exists for holiday homes, and even cars. I've been on a home exchange holiday before as well, which is sort of based on the same principle of sharing.
I love that all of this is free, and it helps us, as a species living on a limited planet, to consume less. 

Websites:

US: www.swap.com
UK: www.swapz.co.uk and www.iswap.co.uk (for anything), www.readitswapit.co.uk (for books).
Netherlands: www.ruilen.nl

Have you ever heard of this idea? Does it appeal to you?