How many times have you bought something for one specific purpose only to let it collect dust for all eternity afterwards? How many times have you needed a *insert object here* but didn’t want to buy one and after a failed attempt to borrow one from a friend, you either give up on your project or improvise with a far inferior object? Sound familiar? Enter, Peerby. Peerby is like that incredibly useful neighbor who you don’t have to make small talk with every time you see each other but whose drill you can always borrow. Peerby allows you to use everything you need without buying it, without cluttering your storage space and with the added bonus that you get to know your neighbors.

Peerby is Daan Weddepohl’s brainchild and started out in 2012 in Amsterdam. Weddepohl was inspired to connect people, make a real contribution and increase efficiency. Why buy something when you can borrow it? Not everyone was immediately supportive but ever since the first electric saw machine was borrowed, Peerby has been a success and continues to gain popularity in the rest of The Netherlands, Belgium, London, Berlin and throughout the US. The concept is – much like Airbnb – completely based on neighborly trust and no money is exchanged. They currently have over 200,000 active members and the products offered are roughly worth over half a billion euros.

Peerby has also launched a rental option, where people pay to rent something from their neighbors who will also deliver and pick up the item at your convenience. Peerby is now transitioning from a start-up to a “real company” as Weddepohl describes. “We’re fine-tuning our business model and are scaling up the processes and locations”, he explains.

Like all great ideas, Peerby is incredibly simple and dramatically effective. Think you can top it? Sign up for the Postcode Lottery’s Green Challenge 2016 for the chance to win $ 565,000.00 (EUR 500,000)!