with “My object library” rent instead of buy!
Are you hesitating to buy a high-pressure cleaner because its use will be very occasional? Toulouse residents Fabien Estivals and Marie Boillot have created the service you need! Launched last February, “My Library of Objects” has already won over a hundred people from Toulouse.
“The concept is to offer objects for occasional use for rental, at a low price and nearby so as to promote use rather than systematic and individual ownership. The objective is to fight against overconsumption and to offer a practical solution accessible to as many people as possible”, explains Fabien Estivals, interviewed by The Independent Opinion.
Position yourself ahead of the purchase
“My object library” is based on the principle of the circular economy. Thus, Fabien and Marie position themselves upstream of the act of purchase by promoting occasional use through the location of objects. “We also call this concept economy of functionality”, explains Fabien. To date, the library catalog has 250 objects related to the fields of DIY, gardening, outdoor recreation, creative hobbies, cooking, events. Within three months,My Object Library“drained a hundred Toulouse residents, who according to Fabien Estivals, are satisfied with such a service.”
Customers often tell us that it is very advantageous for them to borrow objects like a circular saw, rather than buying one, to use it once and store it for years at home”, says Fabien Estivals .
Thus, it is possible to rent an object for a week, and the rental is renewable twice. “We drop off items at pick-up points, which currently number 5. We are committed to making them available Thursday at 4 p.m. Users must return it on Wednesday before the closing time of the relay point”, explains the Toulousain.
The range of rental rates oscillates between 2 up to 32 euros. However, the prices are evaluated according to the objects, their initial price and the cost of their maintenance, that is to say the maintenance and the verification of the objects between two locations.
An increasingly marked ecological awakening
“Local authorities have understood that there is a real challenge in changing our consumption patterns,” says Fabien Estivals. By presenting their project, the two Toulousians quickly obtained grants from communities which enabled them to have acquisitions. A sum of money which thus enabled them to constitute their catalog.
Our stock consists mainly of objects that we have purchased new or used, but also donated or lent by individuals and companies. They are people helped by the fact of contributing to a process of general interest. There is no direct counterpart to these donations made by individuals”, rejoices Fabien.
DIY and sewing training to come
From the start of the 2022 school year, “My Library of Objects” offers sewing and DIY training programs. The goal is to transmit know-how and skills. “We occasionally go to Café Bricol’ in Toulouse, workshops where you repair your own broken objects. We realize that users have a form of reluctance to dismantle an object for fear of breaking it. “However, according to Fabien, a large proportion of breakdowns can be repaired simply at home:
Through our approach, we want to desacralize these gestures of repair to extend the life of objects. We are also considering a partnership with the bricol’ cafés.”
>> READ ALSO: Toulouse: at Café Bricol’, we give “a second life to electrical objects”
From now on, Fabien and Marie want to expand their catalog of objects for rent. “We say to ourselves that the object library will meet a larger range of objects and will be able to meet the demand of the majority of Toulouse users when it reaches 800-900 objects.” In the future, “My Object Libraries” will be able to meet more vast and provide services to many Toulouse residents.
>> Practical information
Discover all the information on the website of the Object Library