The shanng economyIf we look around us at the things we have purchased at some point in our lives, we would no doubt notice that not everything we own is being put to gooduse: the thick woolen coat which we thought looked trendy despite the fact that we live in a tropical country, the smartphone that got put away when webought ourselves the newest model, the car that only gets used at the weekends, or even the guest room in our house that somehow got tumed into astoreroom.Those underutilized items may seem useless to some, but could be an asset to others. With the advent of the intemet, online communities have figured out away to generate profit from the sharing of those underused assets. And this is known as the sharing economy.These democratized online platforms are providing a chance for people to make a quick buck or two. To give an example, busy parents previously might nothave bothered with setting up a stall at the local market or car boot sale to sell their children’s old equipment, but with online marketplaces, parents are nowable to sell on those hardly wom baby clothes that their children have outgrown and the expensive pushchairs and baby equipment they have invested in.Businesses have caught on to the profitability of the sharing economy and are seeking to gain from making use of those underutilized resources. A businessmodel that has rapidly risen in popularity sees companies providing an online platform that puts customers in contact with those who can provide a particularproduct or service. Companies like Airbnb act as a middleman for people to cash in on their unused rooms and houses and let them out as lucrativeaccommodation. Another example is Uber, which encourages people to use their own personal cars as taxis to make some extra cash in their free time.Sharing economy is not without criticisms. Unlike businesses, unregulated individuals do not have to follow certain regulations and this can lead to poorer andinconsistent quality of goods and services and a higher risk of fraud. Nevertheless, the increased opportunities to sell on our unwanted and underused goodscan lead to a lesser impact on our environment.The sharing economy DOESN'T mean that