Umbrellas are a blessing and a curse: They obviously serve a very specific purpose, but they're also a massive pain to carry around all day. The people in Vancouver (aka "Rain City") are especially familiar with this struggle, often finding themselves either sans umbrella during surprise bursts of rain, or hauling around the accessory during spontaneous stretches of clear skies. But a company called UmbraCity seems to have found the perfect solution: an umbrella-sharing program.

"You can think of it as a bike share for umbrellas," UmbraCity co-founder Amir Entezari told the Vancouver Sun. "We have fully automated kiosk[s] where, whenever it rains, you can register to take out an umbrella and return it at any other location."

Operating out of the University of British Columbia (UBC) since September 2015, the service is expanding to downtown Vancouver this winter (tentatively in January or February of 2018) with 20 new touchscreen kiosks. As Entezari suggested, the process will work the same way as it did at UBC: residents and tourists sign up for a free membership (either online or at a kiosk), pick up one of the bright yellow umbrellas, and then drop it back off that same day at any kiosk. Users get 24 hours of unlimited rentals after registering; after that, your credit card will automatically be charged the CAD$2 (US$1.55) fee for each umbrella taken, and you can even return broken products at no extra cost—although fees will accrue for late or lost brollies.

Since the rollout at UBC was such a success—5,000 students signed up for the program within the first year—Entezari feels optimistic about the company's impending expansion. "Our smart and simple technology is going to spread vibrancy and positivity, inviting everyone to join us in the umbrella-sharing economy that is convenient and affordable," he told the Vancouver-based news outlet Daily Hive. He added that he hopes to eventually introduce the service to other rainy areas around the world. Fingers crossed it makes it to our hometowns soon.