Renting Things You Never Knew Could Be Rented

One way to avoid clutter is to avoid buying things you need very infrequently, or only for a limited time. Sometimes you can borrow these things from someone you know - but renting is another option.

Certain things have been rented for quite some time, and many people know about them: tuxedos and party/event supplies come to mind. And then there's NetFlix, which lets us rent movies.

But did you ever think about renting textbooks? You can do that through Chegg or BookRenter. [via WebUpon and SpringWise]

What about baby toys? You can rent them from BabyPlays. [via Msnbc.com; thanks to professional organizer Ilene Drexler for the pointer]

And then there's baby clothes, which you can rent from Lütte-Leihen in Germany. [via Springwise]

A new service called Transitional Sizes is starting to provide rentals of adult clothing, for those who are changing sizes and don't want to buy a new wardrobe in the new size just yet For those who are losing weight and don't want to buy a wardrobe in each new size, this could be helpful. They also rent maternity clothes. [via Springwise] Update on Oct. 31, 2012: This service seems to have disappeared.

Maternity clothes rental is also provided by Changes With Style in Ottawa, Canada and Maternity Exchange in Singapore - and others. Update on March 19, 2013: Changes With Style seems to have disappeared.

Libraries are sources of free rentals of books, music CDs, and movies - but some of them also lend out tools. In my part of the world, there are tool lending libraries at the Berkeley Public Library and the Oakland Public Library. And there's also the San Francisco Tool Lending Center. For others, you can try the list on Wikipedia. Update on March 18, 2013: The San Francisco Tool Lending Center is now the Clean City tool lending center, called Green City.

As I've written about before, you can even rent moving boxes.

And then there's NuvoRent, which "intends to put renters and owners together in financial harmony by becoming the premier destination on the web for individuals who want to post anything they own for rent." Zilok seems to provide a similar service. And The New York Times lists more online rental communities. [pointer to Zilok via Apartment Therapy] Update on Oct. 31, 2012: NuvoRent seems to have disappeared.

Related Post: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: The Reduce Part

[photo by nogoodreason / Daniel Grosvenor - and it's the bikes that were for rent, not the cats!)