Sharing Depot lends out toys, camping supplies and sporting goods

By Faiza Amin

You can now borrow more than just library books in Toronto.

The Sharing Depot opened its doors on Wednesday, offering Torontonians a unique opportunity to access its library of things.

Members will now be able to borrow items such as camping equipment, toys, party supplies, tools and even sporting goods.

“It’s good for beginner campers, and people who’ve never gone camping before and don’t want to spend $500 to $1000 on just getting some basic camping equipment to go for a weekend,” said Ryan Dyment, co-owner of The Sharing Depot.

The owners of the Depot, the first of its kind in Canada, are also behind the Toronto Tool Library, and now they’re expanding on this sharing model.

“Our vision is to have these kinds of programs, in all neighbourhoods, in all cities in the world,” Dyment said.

Volunteers started a crowdfunding campaign to raise the $30,000 necessary to open this latest venture, which encourages more people to consider sharing to minimize the impacts of ownership.

The team says borrowing items can help to reduce clutter and the need to continuously manufacture things we sometimes barely use.

“To have to store all this stuff is a tremendous waste of so many of this world’s resources,” Dyment explains. “It’s much better to share them, and maintain them and keep them in good working condition for everybody.”

But this model doesn’t come without its challenges.

The team must continuously maintain the borrowed pieces, and make sure they are clean and presentable for the next person to use.

“The challenge is maintaining this equipment, it’s going to be used in the outdoors,” he said. “So it’s going to wear it out, and since it’s not designed to last forever, it’s not going to.”

There are more than 2,000 items available at the library, and the owners say their aim is to grow to include even more things.

The library is located at 1803 Danforth Ave., and runs on a membership model, where you’re required to pay an annual fee ranging from $25 – $100.

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