Tool Lending Libraries are Regenerative Infrastructure

One might ask, "Why is Regenerating Paradise building a tool lending library?"

Our mission is "to weave the social fabric that regenerates us." Our vision is “to co-create and cultivate communities that make use of our abundant gifts and that work for all life.” As I often say when talking to folks out in the community, regenerating our community requires taking care of both the people and the environment.

The Paradise Tool Lending Library does both.

Taking Care of People

The Paradise Tool Lending Library takes care of people by connecting them with tangible and intangible resources that make life easier -- tools, yes, but also a community to lean on when you need some extra help or advice (and maybe a zucchini or two).

The Library shares space with the Paradise Community Garden, creating a community resource hub where folks can get fresh organic produce and pick up a few tools for that weekend project. This community beehive will be a hotspot for fun events and workshops so we can all connect with and learn from our neighbors.

Taking Care of the Environment

It goes something like this: Connection inspires kinship; kinship inspires care. I say we need to take care of both the people and the environment, but it turns out they are one and the same. We are all part of a living system. If we want to care for each other, we must care for the environment, and vice versa.

Sharing tools and other resources is a great way to connect with your neighbors. It's also a great way to protect the environment. Rather than supporting the linear extraction economy, which draws a straight line from extraction to use to disposal, tool lending libraries provide infrastructure for the circular economy.

The circular economy prioritizes sharing, repairing, recycling, and buying used, meaning goods circulate much longer before reaching the landfill. At the same time, less is being purchased new, and therefore, less raw material is being extracted from the planet.

Connection→Kinship→Care

So, why is Regenerating Paradise building a tool lending library? Because the Paradise Tool Lending Library is a conduit for community care, channeling our abundant community gifts through the Library and back out into the community to "work for all life."

Learn more about the Paradise Tool Lending Library at www.regeneratingparadise.org/toollibrary