Author: Anthony Underwood

When most of us hear “sharing” in the context of the environment, we think of the sharing economy: ridesharing, apartment/home lending, peer-to-peer lending, reselling, co-working, or talent-sharing. Many popular platforms such as Airbnb, Uber, ZipCar, and Craigslist offer opportunities to use underutilized assets that would otherwise remain idle or share existing assets with others. To the extent that these options substitute for new purchases, are more efficient than existing options, and do not crowd-out more environmentally friendly options they can certainly promote environmental sustainability. The problem is that identifying and quantifying just how environmentally-friendly these platforms are can be...