Underexplored Sustainability Strategies: Sharing Goods with Friends and Family

In the pursuit of sustainable consumption, reducing acquisition and prolonging the life of household items—like clothing, appliances, and furniture—has never been more essential. Practices such as purchasing second-hand goods, borrowing, sharing, and passing items between people don’t just offer environmental advantages—they build social connections too. Despite their everyday nature, these informal exchanges of goods remain under explored in sustainability and consumption research. This study draws on a unique national survey of 2,700 Australian households, shedding light on how everyday sharing of goods flows through informal networks of family and friends. We argue that these personal relationships are pivotal to both understanding and encouraging the circulation of used goods in a developed economy. Our findings reveal gendered, class-based, and life-stage differences in sharing practices and the influence of social capital, which allows more privileged groups to participate more actively. Households with children, for instance, experience faster consumption cycles, driving greater circulation of goods. Generational shifts also play a key role, as attitudes toward second-hand goods evolve. We contend that informal sharing—within families and communities—holds just as much significance as formal sharing economies in diverting goods from landfills and supporting sustainable consumption. This everyday circulation is vital to the sustainability conversation.