You can find apps for everything nowadays, and some of them are really creatively useful or simply entertaining. We’ve seen an app for typing in various indigenous languages from North America and Australia, some environmentally-focused games, the potential for a prairie dog translator app, and an application to help monitor the plants in your garden. Now we’re learning about a new company that has an app to help coordinate loans of tools or other things among neighbors. Named Peerby, this social platform came to life in the Netherlands, and seems like a great idea to promote friendly and community-building interactions while also reducing consumption. Eleanor Beardsley reports for NPR’s All Tech Considered:

Millions of people use websites and apps like Airbnb to share their homes and Uber to transport people in their cars. A new company allows people to share things like power drills and bicycle pumps by connecting people who need them to people who have them.

It isn’t surprising that the idea for the borrowing platform Peerby originated in one of the world’s most densely populated countries — The Netherlands.

At the Amsterdam headquarters of Peerby — which stands for peer to peer, nearby — founder Daan Weddepohl says he had the idea for the startup after his house burned down, and he had to borrow everything. At first, he says, he felt dependent, but then realized people generally like helping each other because it creates a bond.

“People are social animals,” Weddepohl says. “We like to help each other out. Borrowing things is probably one of the oldest behaviors in nature, and we are just making it easier through technology. We created a platform that makes it easy for people to find that neighbor that’s willing to lend what they need.”

In June, Peerby was selected best urban app in the AppMyCity! competition, held as part of the New Cities Summit in Dallas.

You can read the rest of the original story here.