Using instead of owning: Gradido and the economy of light luggage

Executive Summary

„It's better to travel light“ - this sentence summarizes a profound economic and psychological truth: Possession binds, use liberates. The question of whether things should be owned or merely used has taken on a new urgency in the modern economy. The sharing economy, SaaS models, product-as-a-service and rental models show that a fundamental shift from ownership to use is taking place. The Gradido model complements and accelerates this change through a structural mechanism: the Planned transience. This report analyzes how the Gradido system, with its triple money creation and perishability of 50% per year, not only supports the logic of usage models, but turns it into a social and environmental benefit.

1. the world is changing: from ownership to use

1.1 The global trend: sharing economy

A clear social trend has been emerging for years: more and more people are defining renting as a lifestyle, while ownership is taking a back seat and the focus is on use. Young people, but increasingly also people from the middle of society, are recognizing the advantages of a flexible, usage-oriented lifestyle.

The so-called Sharing Economy includes business models that enable the shared use of resources. When products are shared, less needs to be produced - which saves resources and protects the environment. According to a study by the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, the sharing economy could save up to seven percent of household income and 20 percent of waste consumption.

In concrete terms: vehicles, equipment and tools that would otherwise just stand around for a large part of the time are used more effectively in usage models. The Zurich-based insurance company sums it up succinctly: „Renting offers an ecological alternative to ownership. Digitalization and social media have greatly simplified access to the sharing economy.“

1.2 Software as a Service (SaaS): the subscription has prevailed

The subscription model has already become standard in the software sector. With a SaaS business model (Software as a Service), the software is held on a cloud infrastructure and companies have access to the software via a subscription fee. Since the term was first used in 2005, SaaS has replaced the classic license model for many areas.

The advantages for users are clear:

• Low initial outlayNo large one-off investments for software

• Maintenance and updates are fully covered by the provider

• Scalability: Payment is only made for resources actually used

• Access from anywhere: Ideal for mobile working, as all data is in the cloud

• Greater future security: Companies automatically stay technically up-to-date

For their part, companies benefit from stable, predictable revenue streams instead of unpredictable one-off sales. SaaS models promote strong customer loyalty, as customers generally subscribe over longer periods of time.

1.3 Apple and the hardware subscription: an idea takes shape

Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, repeatedly emphasized the potential of subscription prices as a better alternative to conventional upgrade fees: „We've really built a muscle in how to do [subscriptions]. I think that will be good for Apple in the future as well.“

Apple itself is already working on a subscription service for the iPhone and other hardware products. The planned service would allow users to subscribe to hardware - and not just digital services. The monthly fee would not reflect the price of the device, which would be spread over 12 or 24 months, but would be linked to the option of exchanging devices for new models when new hardware comes onto the market.

Apple's Services division has grown massively under Cook's leadership: In the 2025 financial year, Apple generated over 109 billion US dollars in revenue from services - an increase of 14 percent compared to 2024. The transformation from a pure hardware manufacturer to a services ecosystem is a prime example of how usage models are reshaping the economy.

2. product-as-a-service (PaaS): the factory as lessor

2.1 The principle

With Product-as-a-Service (PaaS), the product is no longer sold to the customer on a one-off basis, but made available for use in return for a monthly rental fee. The company remains the owner of the product and takes it back after use. One constant in PaaS models is that legal responsibility and/or ownership increasingly remains with the product manufacturer.

This model creates a decisive economic incentive: Longevity instead of planned obsolescence. As extending the service life of products and the efficient use of materials are integral components of a PaaS model, dependency on scarce raw materials is reduced.

2.2 The end of planned obsolescence

Planned obsolescence is a practice in which manufacturers deliberately shorten the lifespan of their products in order to boost sales of new appliances. The practice has many negative effects on the environment, as appliances have to be replaced more frequently and therefore produce more waste.

However, if companies no longer sell their products, but rent them out, this incentive is turned around 180 degrees: the economic interest then lies precisely in the fact that products can be rented out. last a long time. A tool without downtime beats even the most optimized return logistics in terms of total cost of ownership. The responsibility for maintenance no longer lies with the individual owner, but with the company - professionalization and centralization of maintenance services ensure that products remain in circulation in an efficient and resource-optimized manner.

2.3 Circular economy through rental models

Rental models contribute to a shift towards a sustainable circular economy in several ways:

1. Think circularly (Rethink & Reduce)The choice of high-quality, sustainable and durable products is in the interests of the rental company

2. Keeping products in the cycle (re-use, repair, refurbish)Products remain in circulation for as long as possible through maintenance, repair and overhaul

3. Material recovery: After withdrawal, resources are reintroduced into production as raw materials

PaaS models thus create incentives for companies to opt for more sustainable products that are easy to maintain, repair and upgrade.

3. enjoyment instead of ownership: psychology and quality of life

3.1 Own less, experience more

A qualitative study (Lloyd & Pennington 2020) investigated why people who consciously live with few possessions are often happier. Five main themes emerged: Autonomy (freedom and self-determination), Competence (the feeling of being in control of your own life), Mental freedom, Mindfulness and positive emotions. Many described minimalism as liberating - fewer possessions meant less stress, less distraction and more clarity.

According to a meta-analysis of 23 studies in the Journal of Positive Psychology there is clear evidence that minimalism can increase personal well-being. Over 80 percent of the studies examined found a positive correlation between a simple lifestyle and satisfaction.

3.2 The luxury argument: the occasional indulgence of something special

Utilization models enable something that ownership often prevents: the occasional indulgence in luxury. If you don't own a car, you don't have the running costs of a vehicle that depreciates in value, requires repairs and needs to be insured. Instead, someone who doesn't normally own a car can rent a convertible for their vacation - at a comparable or even lower total cost. Because the usage model eliminates the basic fixed costs of ownership, it creates financial flexibility for better experiences at the right time.

The sharing economy opens up access to high-quality goods even for those who are unable or unwilling to buy them. Those who don't have that much money can share the property of others.

3.3 Public access to nature: a structural failure of ownership

The topic of lake access aptly illustrates how the concentration of ownership removes public goods from public access. At Lake Wörthersee in Austria, 82 percent of the shore is privately owned, at Lake Ossiach and Lake Attersee 76 percent. This makes it simply impossible for many citizens to cool off in their own country on hot summer days.

In Bavaria, Article 141 of the constitution expressly states: „The state and municipalities are entitled and obliged to keep access to the mountains, lakes, rivers and other scenic beauties free for the general public“ - but in practice, this fundamental right is thwarted by private property interests. In Vorarlberg, on the other hand, there is a law that stipulates a ten-metre-wide strip of shoreline as publicly accessible: an example of how a conscious right to access can restrict property for the benefit of all.

4 The downside of free services: When data is the currency

4.1 The tracking dilemma

In the current system, many services are seemingly offered „for free“ - e.g. Google, Facebook, Instagram. The truth is: downloading a free app feels like getting something for nothing, but in reality users are paying with their personal data. In this economy, digital behavior is the currency - clicks, searches and even location data are tracked, analyzed and processed for advertisers or data brokers.

A large-scale study of almost one million apps found ubiquitous integration of third-party trackers, particularly in messaging apps and apps for children, enabling cross-platform and cross-service monitoring. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) is now calling for online platforms to be allowed to offer not only the choice of „pay or share data“, but another option without data sharing.

4.2 Personalized advertising and unplanned purchases

The business model of ad-supported services is based on targeted advertising and behavioral profiling, using personal preferences and usage patterns to deliver highly personalized ads that Promote unplanned purchases or even influence opinions and emotions. Meta used so-called tracking to evaluate the surfing behavior of its users and showed them personalized advertising based on this - a practice that was banned by the Irish data protection authority and resulted in a fine of 390 million euros.

5 The Gradido model: Structural support for utilization models

5.1 The threefold creation of money

The Gradido model - developed by the Gradido Academy for Economic Bionics in over 20 years of research - combines innovative money creation with a sustainable economic framework. Per capita, 3 × 1,000 Gradido (GDD) are created monthly without incurring debt:

• 1st pillar: 1,000 GDD Active Basic Income (AGE) - for the citizen

• 2nd pillar: 1,000 GDD Government income - for the public budget

• 3rd pillar: 1,000 GDD Equalization and Environmental Fund (AUF) - for environmental remediation and global compensation measures

In contrast to today's debt money system, where the sum of all credit balances is equal to the sum of all debts worldwide, with Gradido the money for each person is recognized as a Credit balance scooped.

5.2 Transience: the decisive mechanism

The central mechanism that structurally favors usage models is the Planned perishability of 50% per year. Of 100 GDD in an account, 50 GDD are still available after one year. Perishability is continuously deducted from the account balance, similar to negative interest.

In concrete terms, this means If you hoard money, you lose it through transience. Those who use it, share it, invest it or give it away return it to the cycle - making everyone richer. This mechanism is not just a tax, but a Natural law modeled on biological cyclesJust as bread is baked, eaten and perishes, money circulates - it is created, used and dissolves to make room for something new.

A forerunner of this principle can be found in the work of economist Silvio Gesell (19th/20th century), who observed that money, unlike all other goods, can be withheld at virtually no cost. He suggested imposing fees for withholding money - the so-called Free money or Shrinkage money, that loses value in the long term. With the natural cycle of growth and decay - the cycle of life - Gradido goes one logical step further.

5.3 Why the cycle of life structurally favors subscription models and rent

In the current monetary system, monthly costs add up indefinitely. 500 euros a month in subscription and rental costs equals 6,000 euros a year, 60,000 euros in ten years - and so on, with no structural incentive to incur these expenses instead of hoarding them.

In the Gradido system there is this incentive: unused money becomes less through transience. It structurally worthwhile, to pay for regular usage services instead of withholding money. Anyone who pays monthly for a vehicle subscription, communication services or residential use is doing so in a system that Spending rewarded and hoarding punished - in harmony with the cycle of natural systems.

The result: the per capita money supply automatically stabilizes at the value where the creation of 3,000 GDD and the transience balance each other out - an average of around 54,000 GDD in circulation per person. This means that the money supply cannot be manipulated and no financial bubbles can form.

5.4 No growth constraints: production only on demand

A fundamental difference to the current system lies in the absence of the Forced growth. In the debt money system, the economy must constantly grow in order to be able to service the interest burden - otherwise the system collapses. This need for growth drives overproduction, planned obsolescence and permanent marketing.

With Gradido, this constraint is completely eliminated. There is always the same amount of money per capita, regardless of whether a lot is produced or less. This means that it makes sense to produce certain goods because they are needed - and the people who produce them are paid well for doing so. So less produced, but what is there is made more durable, maintained and used.

5.5 No obligation to save for the future

In today's pension insurance system, people have to save for the future because the system is demographically dependent. Because of the cycle of life, there is no obligation to save with Gradido: the threefold creation of money runs continuously, regardless of age. Nobody has to save for the future, as the same amount of money is always available for everyone.

Instead, there is the innovative Alice Bob principle for interest-free loans: Transience makes it attractive to lend money interest-free instead of hoarding it. Anyone who hoards money loses 50% per year due to perishability. If you lend it interest-free, you get the same amount back - an effective return of 100% compared to not lending it.

6. comparison: owning vs. using in the old and new system

7. concrete fields of application in the Gradido context

7.1 Mobility: The end of car ownership

In the Gradido system, car ownership is no longer necessary as a rule. Anyone who pays a monthly mobility flat rate for car sharing or vehicle use has the following advantages:

• No amortization of equity

• No unforeseeable repair costs

• No parking lot problem

• Access to different vehicles depending on the occasion (everyday city car, convertible for vacation, transporter for moving)

The companies that rent out vehicles have an economic interest in the Longevity of their fleet. This is a logical consequence of the PaaS logic: maintenance and repair costs are borne by the providers - so vehicles are built that are robust and last a long time.

7.2 Communication: The iPhone subscription as the norm

The Apple model already discussed - a monthly communication package instead of buying a smartphone - corresponds perfectly to Gradido's logic. The user pays a monthly flat rate, receives access to the latest devices and does not have to worry about repairs, loss of value or disposal. Manufacturers have an incentive for longevity.

In the Gradido system, there is also the fact that there is no need to develop new devices for the sake of it. Products are only renewed if they offer real added value.

7.3 Software: SaaS is already a reality

The software industry has already completed the transformation. SaaS models are the standard. In the Gradido system, this logic is extended to all areas: Those who do not hoard money, but pay monthly for software, tools and digital services, live in harmony with the system.

Particularly interesting: In the Gradido model with its public budget and the equalization and environmental fund, free software would possibly also be able to function without ad-financed tracking - financed by the second and/or third money creation. The current problem of „free = data as currency“ would then no longer have a structural basis.

7.4 Housing: Rent without fear of loss of value

The logic is also changing when it comes to housing. People who rent today often have the feeling that they are „burning capital“ - because in the current system, home ownership is considered an accumulation of wealth. In the Gradido system, this constraint no longer applies: transience ensures that financial assets cannot be hoarded permanently anyway. Rents and home ownership thus enter into a fairer relationship.

At the same time, the Compensation and environment fund help to acquire publicly accessible recreational areas - lakeshores, forests, parks - and open them up to everyone instead of leaving them to private ownership.

7.5 Natural access to resources: AUF as guarantor

The Equalization and Environmental Fund (AUF) in the Gradido model guarantees that nature and the environment are restored and that only environmentally friendly products and services have a chance on the market. With a volume equivalent to the entire national budget of all countries, the AUF would be the largest environmental fund ever conceived.

Today's problem of privatized lakeshores - where on Lake Wörthersee 82% of the shore is private and citizens have to share overcrowded, remaining public access - would be treated structurally differently: The AUF would have the means to acquire and secure access for all.

8 The end of the advertising model: When prosperity liberates attention

8.1 Structural growth constraints as a cause of advertising

The basic principle of today's advertising is the need for growth: companies must constantly sell more in order to service interest charges and dividends. Advertising is the mechanism that artificially stimulates this demand. Personalized advertising is the tip of the iceberg: user data is collected, profiles are created and desire is stimulated in a targeted manner - often for things that people don't really need.

8.2 Gradido world: less advertising pressure, more genuine demand

Far less advertising is needed in the Gradido system. There is simply less production, everyone is provided for. There is always the same amount of money per capita, regardless of whether a lot is produced or less. This means that there is always enough for everyone and there is no need for the economy to grow.

Products and services that fulfill real needs are in demand without massive advertising campaigns. Those who produce high-quality goods that last a long time and offer real added value are paid well - not because they sell illusions, but because they create real benefits. The money supply is stable: the manufacturers of good products receive their good income and in turn use it for a good life.

9. connection to the free money tradition: why transience is not a new concept

The Gradido model is in the tradition of the Free money according to Silvio Gesell. Gesell recognized that money, unlike all other goods and services, can be retained at virtually no cost. If someone has a bag full of apples and another person owns the money, the person with the apples will be forced to sell in a short time - the owner of the money can wait.

As an antidote, Gesell proposed the introduction of free money - a money that loses value in the long term in order to increase the velocity of circulation and make hoarding unattractive. Gradido's planned perishability of 50% per year also fulfills this function - and goes far beyond it: the triple creation of money also makes a Active basic income for all, which Gesell's approach lacked.

10. critical reflection: challenges and open questions

10.1 Transition challenges

The Gradido model is currently at an early stage of development. Existing pension entitlements, saved capital assets and current loan agreements would have to be transferred to a new system. This transition requires careful institutional design, political will and broad social acceptance.

10.2 Ownership and innovation

A common objection is that ownership is a strong incentive for innovation. If nobody owns more things, less is invested. This question is justified, but is answered differently by the Gradido model: Interest-free loans, the Alice Bob principle and the Active Basic Income as a base create new forms of investment incentives that are not based on property accumulation, but on genuine social value creation and the development of potential for all people.

10.3 The question of the owner

The legitimate question remains: Who owns the goods in a usage model? Of course, only someone who owns the corresponding assets can rent or lease them out. However, this is not a structural problem: companies, cooperatives and public institutions can be owners - the decisive factor is that use is accessible to all and the mechanism of perishability prevents ownership from becoming disproportionately concentrated.

10.4 Sharing economy - not a sure-fire success for sustainability

Previous studies on the sharing economy show: The models are not as sustainable per se as they appear at first glance. The so-called Rebound effect can cancel out savings if cheaper access to goods leads to increased consumption. In the gradido context, too, usage models must be linked to ecological standards that are structurally ensured by the compensation and environmental fund.

11 Conclusion: Gradido as the systemic completion of the utilization economy

The sharing economy, SaaS models, PaaS and rental models are not just economic trends - they are signs of a profound change in the relationship between people and things. The formula „using instead of owning“ is finding more and more followers in reality because it more practical, economically efficient and environmentally responsible is.

The Gradido model provides the right monetary foundation for this change:

1. Transience makes circulation more attractive than hoarding - Subscription payments and rents are becoming the norm, not the exception

2. No need for growth - Products are built to last, not to be replaced quickly

3. The basic income secures everyone - Nobody needs to accumulate resources out of fear of the future

4. The Equalization and Environmental Fund secures public access - Lakes, forests and recreational areas remain accessible to all

5. No advertising pressure - because there is no pressure to grow, real needs are met by real offers

The image of light luggage hits the nail on the head: a society that no longer accumulates things to protect itself, but has the certainty that there is always enough for everyone, can travel lighter, freer and livelier - through life.

This report was created based on the Gradido model of the Gradido Academy for Economic Bionics as well as current research on the sharing economy, SaaS, product-as-a-service, circular economy, minimalism psychology and property rights.