Barter, Trade, and Share – Save Money and Strengthen Our Community

I recently heard some one say that the economy as we knew it may never recover as the under ground movement of trade, bartering, and sharing may have revolutionized our consuming habits.  Getting back to a life that includes knocking on our neighbors’ doors to borrow a tool or offering to fix someone’s computer in exchange for a fresh baked pie not only saves us money, it cuts down on what we consume, limits what goes in the landfill, and firms up our interdependence on each other.

What’s on your list of upcoming must haves?  Where could you find an opportunity to barter, trade, or share those items?  Let’s figure it out right here.

Wolfe Family Wish List

This summer, I’ve got a few items I’d like to wrangle to enhance our backyard, stock our kitchen, fill out our camping supplies, and there are a few creative pursuits we’d all like to explore.  Then there’s those old dreams of finishing the remodel on our home.  We could also use some new clothes for the summer time.  I’d love to hear what’s on your dream list, so please do leave a comment and share!

Here’s what I hope not to buy:

* old fashioned laundry board

*  Tree Stumps (about 1 foot high to put around home made sand box)

* metal washing bin

* retractable laundry line (got it in June 2010!)

* children’s simple playhouse/ platform around tree

* child’s wooden wheel barrow

* pulley

* apple trees

* adult jump rope (for exercising)

* child’s jump rope

* child size down sleeping bag

* camping stove

* glass tupper ware

* O’Keefe and Merrit Stove

* piano

* kids sleeping bag

* candy thermometer

* date night gift certificates – event tickets or restaurant credit

* Egg shakers

* Paul Reed Smith Guitar

* camera

* portable lcd projector

* reconfiguring a wall opening

* gardening help

* power washing our house

* local printing

* store credit (Craft suppliers, Costco, Whole Foods, Banana Republic, Local nurseries)

* Giveaways for Sono-Ma (local chocolate company samples, EO hand sani samples, Traditional Medicinals teas)

* hair cuts

* gifts for children

* gifts for adults (local foods, crafts, jewelery, art, etc.)

* 2 x 4′s

* Smiling Tree Farm gift certificates

* re-drywalling and texturing two walls in our house

* new kitchen floor

* shorts for all family members (scored all we need!)

Think we stand a chance of trading, bartering or sharing with other Sonoma County families to cross all of these items off our list?   Curious where we plan to look for help?

It turns out there are several established local groups that support this kind of exchange.  Allow me to introduce you to 1.)  Sono-Ma Sharing, 2.) the Santa Rosa Tool Library,  3.) Time Bank, 4.) Share Exchange, 5.) Community Gardens, and 6.) Other Resources (e.g. Freecylce).    Find out all of the details below:

Sono-Ma Sharing

www.sono-ma.net/share

Have you been looking for a way to connect with other moms to share ideas? Dreaming of selling your underused toys? Want to put an ad out for your homespun business? “Sono-Ma Sharing” is just what you need! This on-line group, hosted by Big Tent, allows us to gather together like minded moms to do just this.

Bartering and Trading (as well as selling) is easy to do with Sono-Ma Sharing’s Classified section.  You can upload pictures, search listings, and use many other useful tools to help you and your fellow Sonoma County moms swap hand-me-downs, strollers, toys, services,  childcare and more!

Two of my good Sono-Ma friends, Sharon Eisley and Karla Gormley, have worked out a childcare trade for the summer.  I’m also doing a trade with my Sono-Ma co-designer Alissa Feldman, where I’ll get the pleasure of caring for her daughter this summer.  Do you have a friend you might trade with?

Help this group grow by creating your membership today. Tour our “Sono-Ma” sharing site, and find dynamic ways to participate in a community of locals only moms. This group is based online but encourages us to build community both in person and in this social media.

Santa Rosa Tool Library

http://www.borrowtools.org/

Who can borrow tools?

How do I start borrowing tools?

Time Bank

http://community.timebanks.org/jointb.php?gid=377

“Sonoma County TimeBank is a interwoven community of people who help each other by sharing their abilities, skills, and talents. Instead of paying professionals to look after your children, care for your aging parents, and do the work that family and neighbors used to do for one another, the members of your Time Bank can do those things for each other.

How exactly does it work?
When you spend an hour to do something for an individual or group, you earn a Time Dollar.  Then you can use that Time Dollar to buy an hour of a neighbor’s time or engage in a group activity offered by a neighbor.

Why is everyone’s time given the same value?
At first glance, it seems crazy that someone is paid the same for web design and pulling weeds, but this turns out to be the core of what makes Time Dollars really work. In the “Yin” or “caring economy” everyone’s time is valued equally – just like it is inside a family. You wouldn’t ask your cousin to give you two hours of dog walking for every hour you spend fixing his computer. Putting a price on people’s time separates us by making some people more valuable than others.

Isn’t Time Banking like bartering?
It is, but the big difference is that you don’t have to pay back the person who does you a favor. It is a “pay-it-forward” system. That’s one of the reasons why people find it so much easier to do things for others in a Time Banking system. You don’t have to figure out what to give back to the person who helped you. You can choose how to pay it forward doing what you want, when you want.” (all text in this section via Share Exchange Facebook Info page)

Share Exchange

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Santa-Rosa-CA/Sono-Ma/118977961447305?ref=ts#!/ShareExchange?ref=ts

GoLocal Sonoma County is incubating the concept of a “Share Exchange” or a pavillion of resources and local businesses:

“The SHARE EXCHANGE will be a place that facilitates resource sharing and economic localization.

The SHARE EXCHANGE will promote a do-it-yourself culture and empower community well-being.

The SHARE EXCHANGE will be a triple-bottom-line business.” (via Share Exchange Facebook page)

Earlier this year, GoLocal invited community members to tour a property near the Simon Mall as a potential home for the Share Exchange.  The vision unveiled at this meeting includes a community office space, home for the Santa Rosa Tool Library, kiosks for small, local businesses, a home for the Time Bank, and more.  Today, GoLocal is securing funding and partners to move forward in opening the site.

Community Gardens

Community gardens offer a great way to share work and share in fresh produce!  Windsor and Healdsburg both recently opened community spaces for gardening.  Petaluma Bounty runs a network of community gardens in Petaluma and encourages you to get involved.   Find a community garden near you through Sonoma County’s igrow at:  http://www.igrowsonoma.org/gardens.

Other great resources

Craigslist

Be sure and check out Craigslist’s Free Section for any material items you need.  You can also barter on Craigslist by clicking on “barter” under the “for sale” heading – read how here or go to: http://sfbay.craigslist.org/bar/ .

Freecycle

http://www.freecycle.org/

Freecycle can be another good resource – if you are speedy and don’t mind getting tons of emails!  “The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,810 groups with 7,245,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.” (via Freecycle)

Shareable

http://shareable.net/

“Shareable is a nonprofit online magazine that tells the story of sharing. We cover the people, places, and projects that are bringing a shareable world to life. And we share tools and tips to help you make a shareable world real in your life. ” (via http://shareable.net/)

Naked Lady Parties

Organize a sharing party for trading clothes (aka Naked Lady Parties) or working on a joint project.

Start Trading, Bartering, and Sharing Today!

Sonoma County Timebank says it best with this quote from their Facebook page:

Many folks are looking up from their busy lives and wondering if something essential hasn’t gone missing. Is the nuclear family enough to feel fully alive? Some of us can remember a time when family members lived close by each other and we knew most of the people living in our neighborhoods. Some of us have only heard about it. Helping each other out was a given, something we did for each other every day. From watching someone’s kids for a few hours, dropping off meals for a sickly neighbor to potluck suppers and barn raisings, communities were full of exchanges and mutually supportive networks of family and friends. Few people would disagree that times have changed, that these networks are gradually disappearing and few of us have family members nearby or neighbors we know well enough to turn to for support. There are so many things we do that would be more efficient, fun, and meaningful when shared.