Some of Shareable’s top posts of all time are how to stories. This aligns nicely with the feedback we regularly receive that our community wants more in-person projects, gatherings, and events to deepen sharing in their lives and community. While connecting online is nice, the transformative work happens when people create something new in their community.
In the interest of helping people take action and out of sheer curiosity, we’ve rounded up our 15 most popular how-tos of all time. If you like what you find, please consider making a donation to the Sharing Cities Network so we can continue to connect, teach, and inspire.
1. How to Set Up An Open Mesh in Your Neighborhood
Mesh networks can improve a community’s web access by spreading the reach of a broadband connection throughout a neighborhood. Far and away the most popular how-to, this article shows up in our most-read articles week after week after week.
2. The Ultimate Guide to Traveling Without Money
Traveling without money? Really? Can it be done? Yes. From eating and getting around to finding safe places to sleep and staying clean, here are lots of tips on how to do it.
3. How Not to Pay Taxes
When he grew tired of supporting a war he didn’t believe in, one man changed his lifestyle and found a way to legally avoid paying taxes. Here’s his story
4. How to Start a Worker Co-op
Being part of a worker co-op can provide a satisfying alternative to the isolation of self-employment and the exploitation of traditional jobs. Here’s how to get your own co-op off the ground.
5. How to Share a Nanny
Child care can be insanely expensive. A growing number of families, however, have discovered that sharing a nanny is a smart and economical way to get quality care for the kids.
6. How to Start a Housing Co-op
When done properly, resident-owned co-ops offer an affordable and more convivial alternative to single family housing. Learn how to create one.
7. How to Share an eBook
When you want to lend someone a book, you simply hand it to them. But if you want to lend someone an eBook, things take a turn into the land of restrictions and legalese. Here are some ways to get around that.
8. How to Barter, Give and Get Stuff
Between the world of money and the world of free there exists a realm where things can be bartered for, shared and exchanged for, without using money. Learn how to get involved.
9. How to Map the New Economy
Maps are not only helpful tools to share and find collaborative economy organizations in your town, they also provide a great way to bring people together under the banner of creating a better, more shareable world. Learn how to create a map of your community.
10. How to Start a Community Currency
By creating local currencies, communities can take money out of the hands of multinational corporations and put it into the hands of more accountable local entities. Here are some tips on starting your own currency.
11. How to Start a Farmers Market
How does one go about starting a farmers market? One of the masterminds behind the Noe Valley market in San Francisco offers five steps to get the ball, or veggie cart as it may be, rolling.
12. How to Dumpster Dive, Eat Free and Fight Waste
The fact that 40-50 percent of the food in the U.S. goes to waste calls for a serious reevaluation of our food system. While dumpster diving may not be for everyone, here are some tips on doing it right and an overview of why it’s not as repulsive as you might think.
13. How to Start a Repair Cafe
In a culture of planned obsolescence and shoddily-made goods, repair cafes offer a way to repair and refurbish appliances, gadgets and household goods that might otherwise get thrown away. Learn how to start one in your town.
14. How to Date Without Money
Dating can be tricky enough without the added pressure of not having money for wining and dining. But, there are tons of things you can do that don’t cost a thing. Here are 27 of them.
15. How to Throw a Community Swap Meet
Community swaps, in addition to being great ways to exchange goods and services, can be occasions to bring people together for music, food, making and socializing. Shira Golding, of Share Tompkins in Ithaca, NY offer six tips for running a successful one.
##
If this post resonates with you, please consider supporting Shareable. Please watch the two-minute video below & donate to our crowdfunder.
Top photo by Dennis Hill (CC). Follow Cat Johnson on Twitter and Facebook
