By Greg Roberts
Published September 2001
Have you ever noticed how many barriers we erect when we ask ourselves why can’t we spend our days doing what we like best? Go ahead ask yourself. Your answers might be: how would I make any money, who would pay me, I’m not very good at it, where would I get the skills? Even if we already possess the necessary skills, we are often uncomfortable placing value on the type of work we prefer.
Compounding this problem are the inequities of a marketplace that affords dramatically different wages to similar forms of work. There is little encouragement to seek work that is personally meaningful but often at lower wages, when we are constantly exposed to a consumer culture of unattainable and unsustainable status symbols.
At The Working Centre’s 43 Queen St. location, we are presenting a host of services and supports geared towards helping people overcome these barriers, and in doing so, discover a form of work that is personally meaningful. For those uncertain what it is they want to do, we offer career counseling and an alternative work library. For those lacking in skills we offer a variety of workshops and computer training. For those that see money as barrier, we offer BarterWorks, a community-based currency.
BarterWorks is a not-for-profit organization that offers a local currency alternative as a means to encourage trading between individuals and small businesses. BarterWorks has a long history with the Working Centre, beginning in 1992 as K-W LETS. It is based on the now internationally recognized LETSystem (Local Employment and Trading System).
BarterWorks, like all LETSystems around the world, operates within the “Gift Economy” as a form of community credit. Members of l3arterWorks are given an account in which transactions with other members are recorded. Interest is neither earned nor charged on balances. Positive balances indicate acknowledgement of a gift given, negative balances indicate a gift received and a commitment to the community to return the favour.
Because this currency only circulates within the Barter community, support offered to another business is more likely to be returned.
Members offer to trade their goods and services for combinations of “BarterDollars” and Federal dollars. Trades are negotiated in a creative process that requires each party to recognize the other’s needs.
The supportive environment is of particular benefit to individuals and organizations that are beginning a new venture. In a barter economy, as in the larger economy, trades follow relationships. These relationships are fostered through a variety of events, workshops and the daily routine at the BarterWorks office.
Regular events include member driven “Market Days” that occur on the last Saturday of each month. Members meet one another in a social environment while they promote their various goods and services.
In addition to these Market Days, BarterWorks members have been actively promoting their goods through “The Front Window”, a retail outlet for arts and crafts. In exchange members are encouraged to become involved in the daily operation of this unique storefront.
Membership in BarterWorks facilitates involvement in a number of other programs active at 43 Queen. Recycle Cycles and Computer Recycling provide individuals with the opportunity to learn new skills. When fully developed, the Arts and Crafts space and The Food Box program will give entrepreneurs a place to develop skills in craft and gardening.
Each of the above initiatives trades in BarterDollars, and by doing so creates a relationship of exchange within the context of a gift economy. In some respect the BarterDollars traded become secondary. New skills can be learned and shared, building confidence and creating a greater sense of community among participants.
Participation in BarterWorks provides individuals with an alternative to cash, a supportive community to trade with, and an opportunity to use newly acquired skills. In the larger economy cash is often the only relationship of exchange. If you don’t have the cash, you don’t have a relationship. In the gift economy, relation-.ships are built through exchange and mutual support. Cash is only required when relationships fail.
