Plastic waste is building up all around the world. And now, in some countries, it’s being used as a currency of sorts.

It’s a pretty brilliant concept: offer people useful services and products for plastic waste they collect from the streets and beaches in the developing world and bring into regional “plastic banks.”

The idea is the brainchild of Vancouver entrepreneur David Katz who created the organization Plastic Bank.

“If we can reveal the value in the things around us, then we can give people the opportunity to make a better life with that,” he told Fast Company.

Here’s how it’s going to work in Peru, where the first Plastic Bank is set to open this spring: Plastic waste “pickers” will be able to visit the Plastic Bank and trade in their collection of mixed plastics for food, shoes and other necessities. And, according to Fast Company, they can even use the bank’s 3D printing facilities to make items they may need. “Perhaps they’re working with waste from a gas station and the mechanics need components they can print on site. It gives them an opportunity to take the waste out of the environment and make something worth $5, $10, or $20,” Katz says.

Other countries are being targeted for Plastic Banks as well, including the Philippines, Colombia and Indonesia, where plastic is a problem, and an opportunity.

According to Katz, Plastic Banks will also be providing on-site training to the waste collectors so they can expand their skill sets and perhaps even start their own recycling facilities to boost their revenue and take some of the ick factor out of collecting waste.

There is so much plastic floating in our oceans right now that it’s the equivalent of thousands of giant blue whales, the largest creatures on the planet. And it’s not doing the oceanic ecosystems any good. So even as minuscule as collecting a trash bag’s worth of plastic bottles from a beach may seem, it’s no small effort. In fact, it may be way more important than many of us realize.

So, what happens with all the plastic delivered to the banks?

A “major corporation” is going to take the collected plastic waste and turn it into new products, Katz told Fast Company. “Knowing that the plastic came from a waterway and that it helps people out of poverty through its collection and reuse—that’s a strong story.”

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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Plastic bottle image via Shutterstock

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Give + Take, the world’s first clothing swap boutique, is taking the sharing economy to a whole new level with the help of Alysia Reiner of “Orange is the New Black” – and it’s one giant leap for womankind.

Alysia Reiner, best known as Fig on the Netflix hit series “Orange is the New Black”, recently hosted the launch party for Santa Monica’s Give + Take, the world’s first clothing swap boutique – and she’s got nothing but mad love for this revolutionary new way for women to shop.

“Give + Take Swap Boutique is the best-kept secret in Los Angeles,” says Reiner, who will guest on ABC’s “How to Get Away with Murder” this fall. “I love being a member – it’s especially great when you’re rotating looks for the red carpet. I bring great stuff in, and take amazing stuff out!”

A woman’s closet is personal, making Give + Take not just a boutique, but a community. The event was the first of a series of monthly parties for members and guests planned by owner Celina Amaya  along with new partner Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff, the super-fashionista behind Mommy Greenest. Staff are on hand to share style suggestions while members score the duds they need for any occasion – sans the wallet-gouging pricetag.

It’s like Rent-the-Runway for everyday life: Have a party on Saturday night and nothing to wear? Swap for a dress at lunch, look fabulous in it all night, have it cleaned on Sunday morning and exchange it that afternoon. Find a pair of jeans you just can’t live without? Then don’t – anything you take home, you can keep and wear to your heart’s content.

Not only is the process fun, but super simple: The clothing and accessories at Give + Take are valued at 100 percent of their original cost and converted into points. For example, a dress that was purchased for $100 would “cost” 6 points in the boutique. If you brought in the dress, you’d get 6 points of credit to use in-store, and if you want to take it home, you’d need 6 points to do so.

Points can also be accumulated for higher-ticketed items, for instance bringing in two $50 dresses and swapping them for a $100 pair of shoes – except for items marked “1” which can only be swapped for other “1” items.

As a member, not only do you save oodles of money on designer brands like BCBG, Gucci, Marc Jacobs, Prada and Zac Posen, but you help the environment in a big way: There are 160 million American women spending an average of $60 on clothes every month while dumping six pounds of textile waste into landfills. If every woman in America swapped instead of shopped for just one month, not only would we save $10 billion, but one billion pounds of landfill waste. (Seriously.)

Ready to refresh your wardrobe? For more info on joining the ultimate clothing swap, check out their fabulous website:
www.giveplustake.com

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Image: Give + Take

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Whether you’re opening your home to guests or staying in someone’s home-share, use these 10 Airbnb tips for a comprehensive understanding of how to use the service best.

As a former shared-home Airbnb host for more than a year as well as an avid Airbnb guest, I’ve gathered a lot of valuable perspective on the Airbnb experience from both sides of the transaction. Learn from my experience and consider these Airbnb tips for hosts and guests for insights into the minds of both parties.

AIRBNB TIPS FOR HOSTS

1. Communication is key

From creatively filling out your home’s listing description to providing proper directions and answering your guests’ questions, you’ll end up doing a lot of written communication. Err on the side of over-communicating for extra clarity and keeping your guest up to date every step of the way, because you never know which tiny detail could be the difference between an amazing guest experience and an awkward dance with misunderstanding.

2. The little things matter

There are a million ways to give your Airbnb guests a good experience, but small, unique details can push their stay into the realms of greatness.

For example: buy a few extra phone chargers (one each of iPhone 4, 5, and micro USB chargers if you have the means) to keep in your Airbnb room, leave a simple, handwritten welcome note on paper or a small whiteboard, or welcome your guests with an inexpensive gift such as a locally-made chocolate bar.

3. Buy extra everything

Sheets, towels, toilet paper, you name it: if you’re going to be hosting with any frequency, you won’t want to be washing the same set of sheets over and over again, nor making emergency store runs 10 minutes before a guest arrives. It may hit the wallet a bit up front, but think of it as an investment in your space’s capital. Plus, if you keep the receipts, you can write most relevant expenses off when you file taxes (more on that in point five below).

4. Respect your own time

I won’t lie: the money you can make as an Airbnb host is pretty impressive, and it can become a fairly addicting part of your revenue stream over time. That being said, constantly turning over rooms and finding pockets of time to re-clean your home between bookings can really burn you out.

Balance out your bookings and the enjoyment of your own home by setting personal policies for the minimum number of days notice you require for a booking inquiry, as well as your flexibility for back-to-back bookings.

5. There’s a legal side to things, too

As a former Airbnb host, I may or may not have been hosting guests in the spare bedroom of a duplex I was renting (i.e. absolutely did not own). A cursory Google search will bring up horror stories of Airbnb hosts who have befallen serious consequences — eviction, lawsuits, and more — once their landlords found out about their side hustle. Read up on your local laws, assess your risk and comfort level, and play it smart with how you juggle landlord interactions and your bookings.

Oh, and taxes. The Airbnb gravy train certainly comes with tax implications as this rental income is subject to some flavor of occupancy or lodging tax in certain cities and states. Airbnb offers pricing options to include these taxes into the cost of each guest’s booking, but this can put a damper on the pricing strategy for your space. If you forgo that option, set aside a percentage of your Airbnb earnings for taxes just as you would with other income.

AIRBNB TIPS FOR GUESTS

1. Communication is key

Just as important as it is for hosts to be communicative, guests should communicate their needs as effectively as possible. Have special arrival or departure needs? Food allergies that could affect cooking in the kitchen? Let your host know to avoid any misunderstood expectations.

2. Stay in a shared home for the best guide to the city

Staying in a shared home listing on Airbnb probably sounds uncomfortable to most people, but I encourage everyone to try it at least once. Instead of relying solely on TripAdvisor or Yelp to guide you through a new city while shacked up in a sterile hotel room, get the scoop from your hosts on the spots to enjoy or avoid around town.

3. Be human

In my experience as a host, Airbnb guests staying in shared homes often operate as if they’re constantly inconveniencing or bothering their host. Just remember that your hosts totally signed up to have you stay, and that you’re also totally paying them for the stay. The more okay you are with being “human” — making a reasonable amount of regular “living” noise, conversing with your host, coming and going from the house as you need — the more comfortable the experience will be for everyone involved.

4. That being said, it’s not a hotel

While you should certainly feel comfortable being yourself during your Airbnb stay, remain conscious of the differences between your host’s home and a hotel room. The ethos of Airbnb is based largely on the understanding and connection between two or humans, so leaving your host’s Airbnb space as messy as you might a hotel room means you’re likely violating personal space, property, and making that much more work for your host — not necessarily a team of cleaners.

5. Host gifts?

If you have a positive Airbnb stay and a special host-guest connection and culture exchange, don’t be afraid to leave your host a display of gratitude — whether it’s a personal note or a small gift you picked up in town. While this practice is totally not obligatory or expected, it is certainly appreciated by your hosts as it caps your stay with on a warm, connected note.

Follow Garth on Twitter @garthinkingcap

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Photo by BSSR

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For all those environmentalists, humanitarians, and general do-gooders of the world, the future can seem wrought with strife. An overpopulated planet battling for scarce resources while the wealthy consume far and beyond their fair share.

But EcoSalon’s own Beth Buczynski presents a far more positive outlook in her new book “Sharing is Good. How to Save Money, Time and Resources through Collaborative Consumption.”

Buczynski highlights how human nature is actually built on the simple concept of sharing all the way back to the age of hunting and gathering, although our true nature has been clouded by visions of the individual and over-consumption. Her book is a welcomed return to collective consumption or the  value in sharing, reminding us that united we stand while individually we may falter when it comes to consumption.

Sharing is nothing new, according to Buczynski. Look at concepts like Ebay, Netflix, and public libraries, but now with more than 7 billion people living on Earth, it’s more important than ever. Collective consumption through sharing reduces our impact on the planet by reducing our individual consumption and it saves us money. For example, car-sharing, co-working (sharing office space), microlending, and sharing a nanny saved Sharable co-founder Neal Gorenflo $17,000 in household income in one year. That’s motivation enough to dive into collective consumption, and the book gives you the tools to do so.

My favorite aspect of the book is the painstaking detail it goes into to provide readers with avenues for sharing. It outlines resources in nearly every genre of collective consumption from goods to transportation, services, and travel.

You’ll learn how to share couture fashion, books, video games, meals, and cars. Gardeners can even borrow yard space and then share the produce loot once the garden has sprouted. EatFeastly.com connects passionate cooks to hungry eaters and ShareMyStorage.com is a social marketplace that connects those with spare space to those who need it. As an avid globe trotter, I can’t wait to take advantage of travel sharing programs like AirBnB and Couch Surfing.

Sharing is nothing new, but the advent of social media and thoughtful startups looking to capitalize on this growing marketplace have meant the concept of collective consumption is our answer to thriving in a world of overpopulation and diminished resources.

Find the book here on Amazon.

Disclosure: This book was supplied as a complimentary product for the review; no other compensation was provided.

Related on EcoSalon
How to Save Money and Support the Sharing Economy During the Holidays
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Images by: New Society Publishers and Christina Gressianu.

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Wondering how to save money while still giving meaningful holiday presents to those you love? Good news: the sharing economy can help.

I often feel very conflicted during the holidays. On one hand, I LOVE giving gifts. Discovering a present that I know will light up the eyes of a friend or family member is intoxicating to me. On the other hand, I realize how consumerism has absolutely ruined the true meaning of the holidays, and hate participating in the spending frenzy.

The rapidly growing sharing economy emphasizes access over ownership, placing more emphasis on positive experiences and relationships, rather than the acquisition of things that will eventually end up gathering dust on a shelf somewhere. Companies that facilitate this kind of collaborative consumption have been popping up left and right over the past few years. These services, most of which can be accessed online, make it easy to give gifts that will help grow the sharing economy, in addition to delivering affordable, eco-friendly experiences for those you love.

How To Save Money and Support The Sharing Economy During The Holidays

1. Give mobility – The number of bike and car sharing programs has exploded, both in the U.S. and around the world. Companies like B-Cycle, CitiBike, Zipcar, Enterprise CarShare, Car2Go and others make it possible to access energy-efficient vehicles on a short-term basis: gas, insurance, and parking included! (Also see Top 5 Cities in the World for Bike Sharing.)

2. Give toys – But not in the traditional sense. There’s nothing cheery about big box stores this year, so keep your money in your pocket. Instead, why not host a used toy exchange? Call up around a dozen people who have kids, and probably some gently used toys they’d like to get rid of (make sure a good range of age groups are represented). Then, choose a spot where everyone can come and show what they’ve got to share. Employ a bring one, take one policy. Everyone goes home with something new, and if there are leftovers, donate them to a local charity or thrift store.

3. Shop on yerdle – Touting the motto that “sharing is the new shopping” this beautiful iPhone app makes it incredibly easy to score awesome stuff (even electronics and jewelry) from people in your community. Everything will be new to you, and it’s all FREE!

4. Throw a feast. Giving gifts to immediate family is one thing, but when you start adding friends, coworkers, and the paper boy to the list, it starts to get out of control. Save money by gathering a group together for a shared meal instead. Instead of gifts, ask each friend to bring their favorite potluck dish, along with a few copies of the recipe. Everyone leaves with a full belly and a new dish for the recipe box.

5. Give experiences – If you’ve got adventurous friends who love to travel, or enjoy the occasional staycation, services like Vayable are a great way to deliver an unforgettable experience. Book your friend on a Midnight Street Food Crawl in NYC or forage for seafood in San Francisco. (Also see Seven Experiences to Give.)

6. Subscribe away – Instead of giving just one gift, that will eventually become broken or boring, why not give an entire year of gifts? Check out Pleygo (a Netflix-like service that delivers new LEGO kits each month), GetArtUp and Artsicle (pay a subscription fee to get new paintings for your home each month, many from local artists!), or local CSAs (community supported agriculture projects) and food co-ops. Just sign your friends up, and see the joy on their faces when the first installment arrives.

Related on Ecosalon:

4 Ways the Sharing Economy Can Save You Money

3 Ways the Sharing Economy Builds Strong Communities

3 Ways to Share Your Way to a Zero-Waste Lifestyle

Images: seanmcgrath, jonathanmcintosh

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This is third post in our series on the Sharing Economy. Part One explained how sharing services can help you save money. Part Two highlighted ways collaborative consumption can reduce waste and our impact on the planet. Today’s installment will demonstrate how participation in the sharing economy can boost local economies and rebuild important community ties.

The sharing economy is more than swapping clothes or finding a cheap place to stay on vacation. While saving money and reducing waste are pleasant by-products of a sharing lifestyle, they’re not the end goal. The most exciting, promising, and truly revolutionary thing about moving from a “that’s mine” culture to a “this is ours” mentality is a refocusing of our attention on what’s really important: each other.

Embracing collaborative consumption, especially peer-to-peer sharing, requires us to acknowledge the wants, needs, talents, and resources of those around us. Consumerism teaches us that everyone is competition. We compare ourselves to our peers, using ownership of material possessions as a measuring stick of self-worth. That kind of judgement won’t last in the sharing economy.

When liberated from the burden of ownership, we gain access to knowledge and resources, become more active citizens, and are supported by a network of friends and neighbors who collaborate to solve problems. Simply put, when people share, communities become stronger. Here’s how:

1. Restores Relationships

Whether it’s made up of neighbors on a cul-de-sac, members of a church, or far flung friends on a social networking site, community is what makes sharing economy possible. In fact, some have even suggested calling it “the relationship economy.” Unfortunately, we’ve become very isolated as a society. Sure, we talk with coworkers and hang out with friends. But when’s the last time you greeted a passerby or borrowed a cup of sugar from your neighbor? We’ve become withdrawn, reluctant to share our thoughts and feelings, never mind our precious possessions. But in order to swap, barter, or rent, we must initiate contact, negotiate terms, and sometimes, go out of our way for our fellow humans. This exercises our relationship muscle, and helps us reconnect with those we previously ignored.

2. Creates Stability

Whether it’s debt, unemployment, illness, or family issues, our communities are full of unstable families, just barely making it from day to day. When times our tough, collaborative consumption reminds us to utilize the wealth we have, and share it with others. Lending libraries, food swaps, ride sharing, nanny sharing, time banks and community supported agriculture allow those with limited liquid assets to access tools, food, transportation, child care, and perhaps even work with dignity. These sharing services require a small investment on the part of each member so that all can reap a big reward. Participants realize they are not alone, and that sharing is a shortcut to accessing what they need.

Generates Solidarity

When people know and share with each other, they become unified. Instead of fearful isolation, sharing communities live with openness, generosity, and solidarity. Once we remember how awesome it is to be a part of each others’ lives, we’re more willing to become involved in other aspects of our communities as well. Being part of a community means sharing responsibility as well as rewards. The sharing economy encourages us to crowdsource solutions to community-wide problems as well as our own. All over the world, citizens are reengaging with their governments, looking for ways to get involved in the planning of budgets, support of local business, and development of neighborhoods. Sharing forces us to realize our similarities, and helps organize our efforts to realize common goals.

Image: pushthisbutton

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This is part two in our series on the Sharing Economy and how it can save money, time, and help you become more connected to your community. Part One explained how sharing services can help you save money. Today’s installment highlights some of the ways collaborative consumption can reduce waste and our impact on the planet.

We’re imprisoned in an ever growing mountain of our own waste. Streets are littered with the cast off shells of purchases we couldn’t live without. Massive houses suck up huge amounts of energy so that we can each have our own flat screen television, and enjoy 80 degree indoor temps in the middle of winter. We “need” a car for each member of the family, even though research shows that the average personal vehicle sits idle 22 hours a day. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a Texas-sized island of floating plastic debris, poisons the sea and kills marine life.

We’ve consumed our way into billions of dollars of debt, and buying more stuff, even very green stuff, isn’t the way out. Collaborative consumption allows us access to the things we need and want without assuming the burden (or carbon footprint) of ownership. When resources are shared, the total number of new things that must be produced goes down, taking related pollution and eventually landfill-bound waste, with it. Here are some more ways the sharing economy can help you achieve a zero-waste lifestyle.

1. Reduce

According to the EPA, the average passenger vehicle emits around 5.1 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. Living without a car would be ideal, but it’s not a reality for those of us with big families or who live in sprawling suburbia. Car sharing, membership-based services that allow you rent a fleet car or your neighbor’s ride, can be a painless compromise. Studies have shown that car sharing reduces the number of cars on the road as well greenhouse gas emissions, all without forcing people into a car-free lifestyle. But if you are trying to go carless, bike sharing can ease the transition. The most popular urban bike sharing programs place bike stations at convenient locations, like outside train stations or shopping areas. This makes it easy to make short trips without hailing a cab or losing your parking spot.

2. Reuse

Few of us can commit to making our own…everything, but thanks to collaborative consumption we can gain access to the things we need without driving to a big box store to buy overpriced, over-packaged things made in China. Before assuming that you need to buy, why not check in to see if your community has what you’re looking for? There are literally hundreds of services that make it peer-to-peer rental, barter, and consignment as easy as checking your email. By swapping, you extended the lifecycle of each shared item, which means things are in use much longer before they head to the landfill.

3. Repurpose

Although it’s easy to share tangible things, like clothes, electronics, cars, but don’t think for a minute they’re the only things we can share. We can also share time, space, and perhaps most importantly, skills. Time shares are a great way to turn free time into a valuable currency that can be used to stimulate the local economy. Hacker and maker spaces are collectives for those who would rather produce than consume. Members share knowledge of beer making or woodworking or solar panel construction as well as the space and tools required to realize their projects. There are even repair cafes dedicated specifically to teaching people how to repair broken items so that they don’t get trashed just because they’re a little worn.

Image: Robert S. Donovan

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Fueled by a rapid rise in collaborative consumption companies, the Sharing Economy has been hailed as “the next big thing” and one of “10 ideas that will change the world”. But what the heck is it, and why should we care? This is the first in a short series of posts that will explain why everyone’s so excited about sharing, and how it can save you money, time, and even rejuvenate your social life.

Every day, we waste energy, space, and money, because we’re obsessed with the idea of owning things. Most of these things see about 10 minutes of use before we move on to the next “must have” item. The things we do use on a daily basis are built to break, and when they do, we toss them in the trash on our way out the door to buy replacements.

In the sharing economy, access is more important than ownership. It’s not the CD we want, it’s the joy of listening to the music. It’s not the cordless drill we need, but the hole it makes. Collaborative consumption companies make it easy to pay a little bit to gain access to what we need without the high cost of buying it or the burden of maintaining it. The sharing economy focuses our attention on connection and collaboration, turning neighbors into a support system and wasted assets into affordable solutions.

There are two basic types of collaborative consumption: B2C (business-to-consumer) and P2P (peer-to-peer). B2C sharing services typically operate like a normal company, where you pay a fee to access a shared resource. P2P sharing services exist to help people share what they’ve got with each other. P2p sharing can take the form of renting, bartering, or swapping, but anyway you slice it, it’s by people for people.

Since we’re all watching our budgets these days, we decided to kick off the series with a selection of stellar sharing services that can save you money without sacrifice. If you’ve got a story about how the sharing economy has helped you save money, please share it in the comments!

1. Parents

Why buy new when your kids only grow out of it in six months? thredUP is a online P2P consignment store where you can find gently used, brand name clothing for a fraction of the price. reCrib does the same thing for gear, providing a marketplace where parents can list and purchase everything from baby swings to toys. If you’re feeling a bit more adventurous, gather up a few friends to share a nanny or host a baby food swap.

2. Entrepreneurs

These days everyone’s got an idea for a start-up but no one has enough capital. Coworking spaces are communities where location-independent professionals gather to share expenses and talent. Most are highly social, a hotbed of collaboration, and offer printers, conference rooms, and lots of free coffee. Need to brush up on your HTML skills but don’t have the time or money for a college course? Skillshare lets you learn just about anything from anyone, MaestroMarket lets you pick the brain of industry experts, and crowdfunding platforms give you access to much needed dollars when the time is right.

3. Fashionistas

You know how you love to borrow outfits from your best friend? Well now imagine you have thousands of best friends, all with big closets full of awesome clothes. Rent the Runway works directly with over 170 top designers so you can rent dresses, accessories, and more for just a fraction of the price. Bag Borrow or Steal uses the same concept, only with top brand handbags, jewelry, watches, and more. Looking for fashion you can keep? Attend a clothing swap or browse the P2P swapping site Swapstyle.com.

4. Travelers

Seeing new places and experiencing new cultures is life-changing, albeit a pricey adventure. Just like clothing swaps give you access to a community closet, travel sharing sites can give you access to the houses, guest beds, cars, and local knowledge of friendly people around the world.P2p lodging marketplaces like Airbnb let you rent a loft in New York, an artists’ pad in San Francisco, or a villa in Italy, all for a tiny fraction of what it would cost commercially. Once you’ve arrived, car sharing services like Zipcar, RelayRides, and Getaround can put you in touch with the perfect set of wheels, or if you prefer to keep it non-gassy, look for a local bike sharing program. Believe it or not, there are even sites designed to help people swap houses for the summer or for keeps!

Image: Phillip Taylor PT

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What will the future hold? It’s hard to say, but here are ten entities, industries, or trends that will impact it in various ways. 

In the past several years, we have all felt out of control of our lives. We have been hit by economic hardship, rising cost of living, plummeting home values, stagnant salaries, and waves of layoffs. Even as things slowly rebound, there are still many factors that affect our lives that we might not be able to control, but we have found ways to communicate our opinions and, in some cases, make a change. Our society is tackling new and old problems, setting new trends and following a new path, and in many ways, this is a tipping point where the decisions we make now will have a ripple effect far into the future.

Who are the people making these major life decisions for us? You might be surprised.

1. Pharmaceutical Industry

Although prescription prices went up in 2011, Americans are veering away from both doctor visits and excessive prescription use. At the same time, new government healthcare regulations over prescriptions that some women do want to take stirred up debate and crossed boundaries into local government, religious and business realms.

2. Oil & Gas

After the BP spill and the continuing aftermath, no one could fail to see the impact the oil and gas industry has on our lives. Prices have continued to rise and all indications are that they will not go down again for any significant length of time. Car companies have even come to the realization that we need transportation improvements and new higher mileage, hybrid and electric vehicles are emerging onto the market. Unfortunately, they only account for a small percentage of the vehicles on the road but they are gaining in popularity. Alternative energy solutions have become the next big thing, but we are still teetering on the edge of a precipice where we are consuming more energy than these solutions can meet, so oil and gas are still necessary evils. For how long, no one knows. While they still dominate, consumers will not only bear the financial costs, but environmental, political, and health costs as well.

3. Banks

Even before our economy hit a wall in 2008, many mistrusted banks and lenders and feelings deteriorated even further as the situation worsened. The financial landscape is changing. People are becoming more aware of the benefits and pitfalls and are speaking up. When Bank of America saw fit to tack on an arbitrary fee, account holders noticed and protested. After a storm of bad press, Bank of America canceled that fee scheme, but now they are looking to impose more.

The recently passed JOBS Act will also affect small businesses financially in ways we can’t see yet. Now that the gates have opened for people to crowdfund small businesses, this could enable organizations who might not have been able to get traditional or angel funding. Small businesses currently account for 65 percent of new jobs. Perhaps it took a major fall in order to make a change.

4. Supreme Court

We don’t think of many Supreme Court decisions as affecting our day-to-day lives, but recently the Court has weighed in on some pertinent issues. The justices pushed back against physical GPS tracking of a suspect, but the argument exposed the bigger issue of individual privacy. Justice Sotomayor articulated the future concern of eroding personal privacy, pointing out that “physical intrusion is now unnecessary to many forms of surveillance,” which puts into question freedom of expression online, information sent in email and data stored in the cloud. The laws as written by our founding fathers cannot keep pace with the speed of our technological innovations and our society’s increasing dependence on virtual communication, so this issue is sure to come up again.

5. State Government

While the Supreme Court makes decisions felt across the nation, state governments have been flexing their power lately. States have passed a number of measures chipping away at Roe v. Wade and imposing limitations and requirements on abortion that vary state to state.

Arizona went further and crafted legislation that would allow employers to opt out of covering birth control as part of their benefits package. If women wanted reimbursement for prescription costs, it then proposed to compel them to justify to their employers that if they are using birth control, they were using it for reasons other than preventing pregnancy. Using birth control for its intended purpose could be grounds for dismissal.

The legislation (in that form) failed, but this trend of state interference in personal and medical privacy seems to be gaining momentum.

6. Work

The job landscape has been a tough one. The last few years have seen layoffs, stagnant salaries, and overworked employees who had to take on the tasks of vacated roles. New opportunities lean toward freelance or contract work and fewer permanent positions with benefits, while our nation is still known for its culture of overwork.

However, mobile tools are giving rise to more work-at-home arrangements to cut down on commuting, eliminate the need for expensive, wasteful office space, and encourage more work/life balance. Will work weeks get shorter? Will more people without location-based jobs (doctors, teachers, etc.) work remotely? The current tide is toward leaner work infrastructure and roles, so expect remote work arrangements to continue to be popular, but as for Americans working fewer hours? It’s a future hope, but not likely to become a reality soon.

7. Utilities

The utility bill is a growing part of monthly budgets, factoring in landlines, smart phones, tablets, cable, internet, as well as basic heating/cooling and water. We use more energy and spend more money, while the big utility fish are gobbling up the smaller ones, so we have fewer choices. If that wasn’t troubling enough, Verizon recently decided to follow in Bank of America’s footsteps and have added an additional fee onto their customers bills. And again, people noticed and protested. Will the future improve people’s abilities to read and comprehend their cell phone bills? Probably not, but hopefully conservation and alternative energy solutions will lessen our utilities’ control over our energy, and impact on our budgets and our planet.

8. Food

Hundreds of emerging books and blogs examine the content of food on the supermarket shelves and have found much of it full of unsavory ingredients. Despite the higher prices, organic food is gaining popularity and gardening has become cool again. Consumers are more food savvy than ever before and are scrutinizing their fare. The demand for healthier food is a positive trend, but it may come at a price, putting it out of reach for many that are still recovering economically or live in a food desert. How consumers shape this industry now will set the tone for the future.

9. Water

It’s easy to forget that water is precious. For most of us, it comes out of the tap when we need it and goes down the drain when we don’t, but water shortage is fast becoming one of the biggest issues of this century. Businesses are realizing how much water impacts their daily manufacturing processes and their profits. Lack of water can shut down a factory for days, while floods can impact crops and cause materials shortages and price hikes.

The price of water varies by region and abundance, but even here in the U.S., wars over water are becoming more intense. In the future we may see prices rise or simply see availability fall. CDP Water Disclosure Project’s Chris Hedemann believes that people will only start to care about conserving water when a water crisis hits.

10. Consumption

As our economy slowly recovers, many facets have changed. Consumer consumption and excessive waste have fallen out of favor, and frugality has spawned a new, sharing economy, also called the access economy. Companies like Zipcar and Airbnb promote swapping and lending, while anti-waste crusader Annie Leonard is seeing her dream of community and sharing start to come true. We’re replacing shopping bags with reusable cloth totes and borrowing from our neighbors rather than buying an item we may only use once or twice a year. Our economy has been hit before during the Great Depression, inspiring a generation of savers. Perhaps this economic disaster will inspire future generations of savers, lenders and borrowers.

Images: Bethan, Frederic Poirot, Julie Falk, Gisela Giardino, Garry Wilmore, Wally Gobetz, Blake Patterson, Chuck Schneider, Evan Leeson, Wester, aamy.

The post 10 Industries and Trends That Will Shape Our Future appeared first on EcoSalon.