About Us
Having zerobaggage means shifting our focus away from the "stuff" or the permanence of items that unnecessarily reside with us or follow us from place to place, toward having what we need when we need it. Zerobaggage is a movement oriented, cyclical way of existing in the world. Your temporary use of circulating items is our core innovation. A movement from buying to borrowing. Ownership is scaled down to what matters most. Lifestyle choices become less anchored, more seamless and most flexible.
WHAT?
Zerobaggage will be an online service, allowing us to 'borrow' (rent) items for a period of time. Items can be returned, exchanged or purchased (if desired). Over time, the more interaction we have with zerobaggage the better our wants are able to be met. Items can be rented for use at destinations we travel to, replacing our need to take checked luggage, or from the city we live in, supplementing our wardrobe or supplying us with what we need if we are living in a place temporarily. Participation in the zerobaggage community provides us a way of connecting with others through the places we visit and inhabit.
WHY?
Allowing for an environmentally responsible, anxiety-free way of living and travelling brings us closer to a state of seamless travel and weightless living. Less, truly becomes more. Movement and circulation of items create a robust new business model generating greater wealth over a longer period of time.
HOW?
Create a profile and interact with zerobaggage online. Items and services are 'borrowed for a fee' and used for a determined amount of time. Items are returned to the system once they are determined to be in perfect condition and cleaned (environmentally). In this new system there are those who will wish to only borrow NEW items. These zerobaggage members are vital because their demand creates a supply of preloved items. Zerobaggage members who prefer to use quality items at a lower cost are then able to chose from a larger selection. Previously having what you want was an either / or proposition. I could either afford a new $1200 dollar suit, or I couldn't. With zerobaggage I borrow items for a much lower fee than purchasing would require and I don't have to 'own' items. This allows me to be "more" with "less". I have the option to live light and travel right by responsibly affording what I want when I want it. If I live in, or travel to, a destination city offering the services of zerobaggage I am further enabled to live light and travel right. I become part of a community, of like minded individuals, embracing this (r)evolutionary way of being.
WHERE?
Wherever zerobaggage is offered, as members, we have the option of using its services in whatever capacity best suits us. A "city specific platform model" has been created so that we can create zerobaggage destinations in our own cities. It is expected that the first zerobaggage cities will be in Toronto, Canada and Gold Coast, Australia.
WHEN?
Currently zerobaggage is a start-up company located in Toronto, Canada. Investment is currently underway enabling zerobaggage to begin offering a range of services by the Spring of 2010. Wish you could try it now? Then please invest your interest by signing up and we will invite you to become a zerobaggage early adopter and become one of its first members!
Our People
Catharine MacIntosh
Catharine MacIntosh is the founder of zerobaggage, INC. Her background as an artist and designer draws upon the medium of ideas as a tool for imagining better futures. Previous projects are many and include her being named as an inventor on a patent for innovating Experience Design in the hospitality industry, through her work with Philips Design in the Netherlands. She holds a Bachelor degree in Political Science from the University of Calgary (1994) and a Bachelor of Environmental Design (2005) from the Ontario College of Art & Design in Toronto. She was also one the first people in Ontario to receive professional LEED certification from the Canada Green Building Council (2003). Catharine currently resides in Toronto.
email. catharine@zerobaggage.com | web. zerobaggage.com | twitter.@zerobaggage
Ron Mason
Ron Mason undertakes the Creative Design and Development for zerobaggage through his company thoughtform media, co. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Ryerson University in Toronto with emphasis on fine arts, new media, and graphic design. He started working with zerobaggage in March of 2009 and lives in Toronto.
email. ron@zerobaggage.com | web. thoughtform.net | twitter.@tfmedia
Wayne Abrams
Wayne Abrams accepted an advisory role a Chief Technology Officer in April of 2009. Wayne has over a decade of experience serving as a technical lead on large scale projects deployed to thousands of users for clients including Bank of Montreal, Nestle, Preo Software and Rogers Communications. He is the inventor and owner of the TweeterBrowser, a tool for studying participant behaviour on Twitter, and TwitOmeter, a text to speech synthesis system for machine read back of Twitter messages. He lives in Toronto and is also a talented singer, musician and producer of film and music.
email. wayne@zerobaggage.com | web. www.tweeterbrowser.com | twitter. @wayneabrams
Dana Strong
Dana Strong has been travelling the zerobaggage journey with Catharine since its beginning. Her input as Communications Advisor has helped zerobaggage grow from an idea into a reality. Dana holds a Bachelor degree in Mass Communications and a Post Graduate Diploma in business. She has held international corporate positions with Motorola, IBM and Nortel and currently owns and operates Strong Ideas, a web copy writing business. Dana lives on the paradisiacal Gold Coast of Australia.
email. dana@zerobaggage.com | web. strongideas.com.au | twitter.@strongideas
Rohan Jayasekera
Rohan Jayasekera accepted a role as Business Development Advisor for zerobaggage in April 2009. Online since 1971, he has been exploiting the power of online for three decades by creating products and services for users ranging from bond traders to garbage truck drivers. He is best known for co-founding Sympatico, Canada's largest, and the world's first, mass-market Internet service. He holds a Bachelor of Mathematics (Honours) Computer Science from the University of Waterloo, has worked as a financial trader and has been trained as a psychotherapist. Rohan lives in Toronto with his wife and three cats.
email. rohan@zerobaggage.com | web. rohanjayasekera.com | twitter.@RohanSJ
Jefferson Wilde
Jefferson Wilde, Prinicipal of SIRE brands, is our Marketing and Brand expert. His years of expertise in graphic design and product placement are a welcome contribution for the launch of our zb Phase Two site, coming in Spring of 2010. He holds a degree in Graphic Design from George Brown College in Toronto. His work in the Health Supplement industry has revolutionized both the way products are marketed and sold by prompting more stringent health and wellness guidelines thereby benefitting consumers. He lives in Toronto with his wife Mandee, who is the inspiration for the zerobaggage Citywide Wardrobe service.
email. jefferson@zerobaggage.com | web. sirebrands.com | twitter.@sirebrands