Hello neighbour...

When was the last time you ran out of sugar and asked your neighbour for a favour? Personally, I hopped across the landing last year to ask mine for a bottle opener. She looked very confused and surprised but handed me one nevertheless.

Pumpipumpe is a Switzerland-based project that is encouraging residents to place stickers on their mailbox to denote the goods they’re willing to lend to their neighbours.

The idea was initially formed to enable those with bike pumps to indicate to fellow cyclists that they could knock and use theirs in the case of a flat tyre — hence the name Pumpipumpe (lending pumps).

The scheme has since expanded into a system allow neighbours to advertise any object available to borrow.

Those who want to take part can simply order a pack of stickers from the project’s website. Each sticker is a small blue square that features illustrations including a bike pump, lawn mower, kitchen scale, children’s toys, and even internet access and fancy dress costumes.

The idea is that homeowners place the stickers for the items they have on their mailbox so passersby can know if they’re good to knock on the door. The stickers are free to anyone in Switzerland or Germany.

Could this idea work in your part of the world?