Extract from Eleanor Tucker’s Non Fiction E book Thanks For Sharing

Elle (Eleanor Tucker is a former newspaper and journal options author and promoting artistic. She labored in award-winning advertising companies earlier than turning into a author for world-renowned media teams such because the Guardian and the BBC commentating on well being, society, sustainability, tech and life-style. She went on to co-found the primary communications company to deal with the sharing financial system, then a trailblazing advertising company specialising in two-sided marketplaces. Passionate in regards to the potential of on-line platforms to democratise, empower communities and assist us reside extra sustainably, Elle now speaks, writes and advises on gig and sharing financial system fashions – working internationally on this house serving to start-ups and scale-ups to launch, develop and thrive. She is the writer of “Thanks for Sharing”, a sensible, practical and humorous information to assist us reside extra inexpensive and sustainable lives.

Thanks for Sharing – extract from Chapter 1 – ‘25 bananas, in a complete state’

I’m turning into extra skilled at meals sharing, though it’s not with out incident. Within the mornings, I head to the meals sharing app to see what’s been listed that I could make use of that day. Some issues get snapped up rapidly, like pastries, and a few issues linger for some time.

Ella’s gravy granules are nonetheless there: I really feel a bit sorry for them. I accumulate some Grated Parmesan (unopened) and a ‘British Swede’ from Joel, which is an efficient twenty minutes’ stroll away, however I’m wonderful with that, because it’s that point of 12 months when the cherry blossoms are out on the Meadows, and strolling down the paths is a pleasure, not a chore. I get extra Pret pastries from Kim (we chat this time, we’ve a buddy in frequent, it seems), and a tin of mandarin segments from Amy, who leaves her providing unceremoniously by her gate. I wait till the road is quiet to take them, in case somebody I do know walks previous, and I’m outed on the varsity mums’ WhatsApp group as a canned fruit thief.

On the subject of the itemizing facet, I’m getting used to a day by day sweep of the fridge to see if something is getting near its Use By date. The signal on the meals sharing field by the bin has been vandalised, now studying ‘PUT CREDIBLE THINGS IN HERE’. I don’t ask who did this, I’m simply grateful that my household is definitely placing issues in there in any respect. I record a packet of burger buns (the barbecue was rained off), a jar of marmalade (I assumed it was apricot jam once I purchased it), and a packet of bacon (unsmoked), as a result of the buying supply introduced two in error.

The bacon is snapped up by Adam in seconds. I’m beginning to get a really feel for what goes like sizzling muffins, which paradoxically isn’t truly sizzling muffins.
Some individuals present up on time, some a bit late, and a few individuals don’t present in any respect. However everyone seems to be pleasant and apologetic and/or grateful as required. Later, Joanne messages and tells me she’ll be there in an hour to gather the ready-rolled puff pastry, simply in time for the
Use By date.

Joanne clearly performs quick and free with such issues. I head to the fridge to seek out it however can’t. Am I affected by Male Fridge Blindness? Is it in truth hiding in plain sight, just like the mayonnaise usually is for my husband? No, it’s undoubtedly not there. I really feel a rising panic, so rush spherical the home asking everybody in regards to the pastry. Jake isn’t even certain what puff pastry is, my husband is as nonplussed as he has been about something food-sharing associated (though I discover the Pret pastries are actually not beneath him), however Phoebe sheds mild on the problem: she used it for her Woman Guides cooking badge the evening earlier than.

I soar within the automobile and do the least sustainable factor possible – drive two miles to a grocery store and purchase a substitute roll of pastry. I’ve two five-star rankings on the app now, and I can’t threat falling from grace. Again residence and flustered, I’ve solely ten minutes earlier than Joanne arrives, and I realise the Use By date on the pastry gained’t match what was within the footage I uploaded. Like underage drinkers faking their IDs, Phoebe and I begin making an attempt to change the date with a 2H pencil. Then the doorbell goes. Blushing and over-compensatingly pleasant, I bundle the pastry roll at a barely confused Joanne (nice, middle-aged, sporting a biking helmet), triple-wrapped in service luggage so she doesn’t begin to look at it. I really feel like I’ve simply robbed somebody. However in actuality, everyone seems to be completely satisfied: Phoebe will get her cooking badge, Joanne will get her pastry (and more energizing pastry at that), and I unlock my 7 Day Famous person badge on the meals sharing app. It’s a proud second, tinged with disappointment as I do know that sharing forgery has taken place.

–––––

If sharing meals is as outdated as prehistory, what a few more moderen instance of meals sharing in communities? Historian Annie Grey specialises in British meals and eating, so I ask her to fill within the hole that brings us as much as the current day. ‘Effectively, nothing was wasted, so sharing was certainly large: meals that wasn’t eaten at all times went to the poor of the parish (this went on till the Thirties). The best way meals sharing networks labored inside a big home was {that a} meal could be served to the household, then something left could be recycled into luncheon or servants’ meals, any leftovers could be eaten by the highest servants, after which something left from that may go to the poor.’

‘You see it all through historical past: the idea of ‘damaged meats and distribution to the poor’ was an enormous a part of royal consuming as properly. The center courses did it too, however their meals tended to be deliberate tightly and meals for the poor or needy was extra more likely to be cooked to order (and once more, servants ate something left from household dinners). Additional down, in servant- much less households – or households with no live-in assist, extra particularly – you additionally get sharing. So in working-class communities, there’s each the ‘assist thy neighbour’ fashion of issues – communities rallying spherical – and in addition the less complicated shared gleaning or pig-killing situations. One particular person kills their pig, everybody helps course of the meat, then everybody shares the stuff that goes off rapidly, in a ‘pig’s fry’ – a mixture of fried pig’s offal.’

It appears to me that meals sharing in its present ‘tech’ incarnation is reviving not simply what we did as hunter-gatherers, however one thing more moderen, but someway forgotten – that’s not nearly avoiding waste however about ensuring we’re all linked and concerned, so no person
misses out. This acquired a bit misplaced when life modified, ready-meals and microwaves appeared in virtually each residence and we grew to become too busy to pop subsequent door with any leftovers, if we even had any, so we simply threw them within the bin. And really, we didn’t know our neighbours
that properly anyway.

Thanks for Sharing (Aurum £12.99: paperback, e-book, audiobook) is a memoir-meets-guidebook offering a contemporary perspective on consumption and neighborhood.

On this fascinating and humorous e book, Eleanor Tucker units out a daring imaginative and prescient of how utilizing apps and platforms to share as an alternative of purchase can save us cash and result in a happier future. From meals and pets to abilities and garments, Eleanor delves into the advantages and challenges of swapping, borrowing and renting, combined in with humour, historical past and sensible recommendation as she recounts her personal experiences and the teachings discovered alongside the best way.

From useful suggestions and do’s and don’ts to relatable tales of household life, Eleanor shares her adventures and discoveries leaving readers entertained, knowledgeable – and motivated to make a constructive change in their very own lives.