People power! Here at MeeMeep it’s something we believe in with a passion so it’s nice to see others putting their own unique take on it too.

Have you heard of Goget or Quiverizer? Or Ziilch? How about Airbnb or MamaBake? OpenShed? They’re all innovative examples of sharing and caring kind of start-ups. The kind of start-ups that encourage community to connect and help each other directly without the use of traditional types of business models, just like MeeMeep. If it helps lessen the load on the planet, one small step at a time, by a more sustainabile-friendly approach to consumerism, it’s even better. Sharing knowledge and friendship? That’s great too.

Like MeeMeep, many of these companies are leveraging emerging technologies, coupled with social networking tools to create an online network that connects to a real-world network. Sometimes described as collaborative consumption or peer-to-peer marketplaces, this model is disrupting business models across many industries, and modifying the way we consume.

Take MamaBake. It was founded by Michelle Shearer, shortly after the birth of her second child and inspired by a well-meaning friend and a lasagne delivery.

“I was blown away by the gesture and how much easier it made things that evening,” said Shearer. “The key philosophy of MamaBake is that, through group big-batch baking, we can bring community back to where it is needed most, the home, the mother, the family.  MamaBake hopes to realise a shift in thinking to a more community approach in the journey of motherhood and create a worldwide network of MamaBakers,”

MamaBake provides a support network, community, and the sharing of chores, food, recipes and wisdom.  ”It works by setting a date and a venue (someone’s house), everyone turns up with pots and ingredients for one big batch meal (or comes with one big batch pre-prepared). The women spend the three hours cooking, talking, drinking tea, sharing the childcare, wisdoms, experiences and recipes and at the end of the session each big batch meal is divided up amongst the women,” says Michelle of the Mamabake model.  “Each mother then goes home with a selection of freshly cooked meals for the week, giving Mum some time off dinner at the end of the day.”

And then there’s Ziilch.com. The inspiration for Ziilch came a couple of years ago when Michelle Power and her partner were renovating their home. “We had many renovation and household items which were not appropriate for donation, not valuable enough to sell on eBay but were too good to throw out. ” Michelle said. “Instead of these items gathering dust in our shed, or ending up in a hard rubbish pile destined for landfill, the idea of a website where people could giveaway these items to other people was born.”

With a growing consumer sentiment interested in environmental sustainability, Michelle believes the time is right. “We’ve had extremely positive feedback from the community and local councils,” Michelle said “our vision is for Ziilch to become mainstream and inspire a reuse revolution.”

And so the same goes for MeeMeep.com,  which we loosely define as a ‘social courier’. By harnessing the collaborative power of people, MeeMeep transforms everyday commuters into couriers and connects these commuters to people who need stuff moved.  The face of MeeMeep.com, 23-year-old Will Emmett is passionate about this new business model.

“As a community, we’ve awakened to the idea of sharing and collaborating for a greater good. It is a remarkable shift – when you think about Collaborative Consumption, it really is a perfect economic example of creating shared value amongst a huge range of people.

As MeeMeep shows, Collaborative Consumption is not just about community and sharing – it’s also a great way for commuters to make money, and for everyday people to save money,” said Emmett.