Barter Faire in Mendocino and Time Banks

First off, it's certainly been a while! Hi, thanks for reading, and I apologize for the barter blogging hiatus. I had a great time at the Okanogan Family Faire this year (though it was definitely colder than any I can remember), and also went to Earthdance for the second time and had my first Burning Man experience. So it was a great year for festivals and barter faires, even though I kinda crammed them all into a 2-month period!

I got an e-mail the other day from a fellow resident of Mendocino County, CA, about starting up a local barter faire. I am beyond excited at this possibility, so much so that I decided to write about it (on a blog I haven't updated in more than a year!). He also introduced me to a very cool concept called Time Banks, specifically, the Mendocino Time Bank. In essence, it is an "online barter faire" in which goods and services can be exchanged using "time dollars." Time Dollars are earned by simply spending an hour doing something or providing a service for someone in your community. Here is how TimeBanks.org describes it:

For every hour you spend doing something for someone in your community, you earn one Time Dollar. Then you have a Time Dollar to spend on having someone do something for you. It's that simple. Yet it also has profound effects. Time Banks change neighborhoods and whole communities. Time Banking is a social change movement in 22 countries and six continents.

Time Banks are taking bartering to the next level! Transactions are recorded in online time banks and communities are transformed in the process. The Mendocino Time Bank is interested in getting involved with organizing a barter faire here, and I'm hoping that we can spread the barter faires along with time banks all over the country and the world!

Folks are always asking me, or posting on the forum, about barter faires in other areas. As far as I know, they're a bit of a Pacific Northwest phenomenon, most being in Washington, Oregon, and Northern Idaho. Of course, similar events under various names occur all over the place, as well as Rainbow Gatherings and festivals, which have their own unique vibes and followings. I am hoping that barter faires go global as we learn to expand as well as simplify and localize our economy, all while building community and sharing our skills, handmade goods, stories, and songs.