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Any community whose residents are unemployed, underemployed or want to create a local economy to keep the money home can use a barter system like Kootenay Barter.
And anybody who can wake up in the morning has something to offer others. From artwork to yardwork, if you have a little time or initiative, you can earn spending power.
Here's how it works: Kootenay Barter was patterned after the Ithaca HOUR in Ithaca, New York. At the core of the system is local scrip, which we call Kootenay HOURS. We didn't print dollars, we printed time. An HOUR trades for $10, a half HOUR trades for $5 and a quarter HOUR trades for $2.50. We also call them barter bucks. SAMPLES AT BOTTOM OF PAGE
This doesn't mean you work for $10 an hour. It means we have printed local $10, $5 and $2.50 notes that equal a minimum wage in the region. If , for example, you earn $20 an hour for what you do, you would charge two HOURS, or the equivalent in cash, trade or barter buck combo.
First decide what you have to offer or what you need.
When you list your offers in the bi-monthly Kootenay Barter Bulletin, you are given four HOURS worth $40. This is the way we slowly get our money into circulation. It is not money backed by gold or debt. It is backed by our own production.
A listing costs $6 and is good for six months or three issues of the bi-monthly directory, called the Kootenay Barter Bulletin. You receive one HOUR when you renew your listing after six months.
After you list your goods or services in the Bulletin, you're on your own. Kootenay Barter does not keep track of your transactions or act as a go-between other than to provide the names of those willing to barter. You spend your HOURs just like you would federal dollars. The only difference is that you don't get rich by hoarding them; you get rich by spending them!
The Kootenay HOUR is the only money you have to work twice for---once to earn it and once
to spend it! There are many ways to earn HOURS.
Bank on Each Other
Kootenay Barter facts:
* Founded in May 1994, in Nelson, B.C., Canada
*Issued 3,200 HOURS ($32,000) in the
greater Nelson area
(pop. 15,000) since May, 1994 for 2
loans, 4 grants,
bank committee meetings first year,
potlucks first year and 540 listers plus
renewals.
*Holds potlucks every other month from
5-7:30 p.m. to barter
goods and services, vote on grants and
loans,
provide a network for community events
and sign up
new listings.
*HOURS can buy eggs, butter, bread,
all kinds of hemp
products---from clothing to paper---,
brakes,
mufflers, appliance repair, most
everything from
accommodate even a Green Party
membership!
*More than 40 businesses in Nelson
take HOURS for all or part
of their goods and services. The list is
growing.
There are more than 600 goods and
services listed
in the May 96 issue of the Bulletin.
*We now have a Barter Store located in
the Nelson EcoCentre
where people can buy and sell their goods
for all or
part barter bucks. This enables farmers
to sell their
surplus for barter bucks, and people to
work for food.
*Kootenay Barter is part of the West
Kootenay Community EcoSociety,
a non-profit organization "Merging
economic, environmental and
political action."
Kootenay Barter offers a starter kit for $20 (to offset printing and mailing costs) to
help you start your own barter system using local currency. There are several dozen
similar systems going in the U.S.
Currently there are HOUR systems in Salmon Arm, B.C., Nelson, B.C., Calgary,
Alberta, and Halifax, Nova Scotia; Prince George, B.C., Kingston, Ont
Send your order or further questions to: Suzy Hamilton
Kootenay Barter
P.O. Box 843
Nelson , B.C. V1L 6A5 Canada
250-354-1909
For more information please E-Mail us at..
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An HOUR trades for $10, a half HOUR trades for $5 and a quarter HOUR trades for $2.50. We also call them barter bucks.
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