BUCKING THE SYSTEM
Barter group's "Green dollar" gaining
ground
By Bert Hill
Watch out Visa,
Mastercard, American Express and debit
cards. The Green Dollar revolution is
coming.
From Ottawa to
Vancouver Island, from New Zealand to the
U.S., the foundations of the multi-billion-dollar
credit system
are being chipped away.
A grassroots
bartering system which exchanges practical
services and produces local jobs - not
monthly credit card heart
attacks - is gaining ground.
For the last
four years the LETS (Local Employment Trading
System) non-profit organization has been
quietly building a base
in Ottawa.
Like most small
volunteer groups it had trouble attracting
members and getting them to use the system.
But recently it got a
powerful boost when CBC's Marketplace
gave it national coverage.
The recession
also has helped.
Today, it boasts
more than 100 individuals and businesses
trading everything from cars, tailoring
and roof repairs to
massage, language and computer lessons.
Members take
most of their payment in cash and the rest in
the form of a credit to their green dollar
account.
CASH STILL REQUIRED
"People still
need cash for their every day lives," activist
Kirsten Petersson said.
Then they then
use their green dollars credits and cash to
buy goods and services from other members.
The service initially
attracted people who were turned off
with the high interest excesses and depersonalized
transactions
of a mass consumer society.
Now it is attracting
consumers looking for bargains and
businesses seeking customers. The recession
has been a big help.
Christina Marketing
owner Sultan Adatia said the system has
brought more than $2,000 in business into
his print shops that he
wouldn't have received otherwise in the
last two months.
Adatia accepted
$400 in green dollars which he plans to use
for air-conditioning equipment once such
a firm joins the system.
"When times are
tough, people want real discounts. I can
charge people the regular price and they
get their savings in
green dollars.
An enthusiastic
businessman, Adatia said he was turned off
by commercial barter systems which take
two percent of each
transaction in cash.
"This system
works. The administrative cost is very low
(50 cents in green dollars paid by the
purchaser) and there is no
possibility of a real loss because there
are no real dollars to
wander off."
Members pay $20
to join the system because Canada Post and
Bell Canada - two services essential to
running the barter system
- aren't expected to join anytime soon.
By dialing a
telephone number, members can find out what new
services are being offered and register
an exchange. A bi-monthly
list keeps members up to date on what
is available.
Adatia would
like government to join the system because of
the heavy tax loads business faces. All
LETS transactions pay
full provincial and federal taxes before
the green dollar
discount.
For example,
Petersson recently was charged $40 for a
printing job and $6 in taxes. Adatia took
$8 off the bill and the
amount was credited to his green dollar
account.
"This is a purely
local currency that can't wash out of the
community," said Petersson. "It makes
things happen. It doesn't
just sit in a few people's hands or depend
on the decisions of
other people somewhere else."
Toronto's green
dollar movement has just 8 members trading
chiropractic, printing, dental and catering
services. "We're
still at the flat end of the geometric
curve," said Toronto
dentist David Burman, "but we're growing."
The Towers of
Mammon on Bay Street aren't exactly teetering.
But don't scoff. Bartering is a system
with the power to break
governments - particularly in hard times.
During the Great
Depression, many small town merchants
accepted payment in eggs and firewood
because there was no cash
around.
IN countries
with dubious currency, it allows international
trade to flourish. Canada accepted barter
from Romania when it
sold nuclear reactors in 1973. Pepsi got
a foothold in the Soviet
market by accepting vodka in return.
The basic problem
with barter is that it isn't money. It
isn't very liquid.