Friends in trade in Wairarapa

FRIENDSHIPS: Exchange members Sue Dyer (left), Paul Cairns and Gail O'Callaghan hang out at a monthly market.

The bustle of the Christmas and holiday season is upon us again and it has been a busy year for the Wairarapa Green Dollars Exchange.

We said goodbye to our retiring exchange co-ordinator Keith Sawyer and welcomed 30 new members. Catie-Lou Manson, our member support co-ordinator, was kept busy between speaking as a keynote at an Australian conference, matching trades for members and enthusiastically promoting our markets.

As I have been writing these columns I have been grateful for the feedback, encouragement and kind comments from our members. I am proud to be associated with an organisation that is so inclusive, warm and compassionate, and where people are valued for what they bring.

While talking to our members about the various topics for these columns. I've also often asked why they are members or what attracted them to our organisation.
While our exchange is a system for trading goods or services, which our members certainly utilise, almost all the members I've spoken to value the social and community aspects as much as the trading.

Members often help and support each other and many have forged strong friendships.

Interest-free community trading systems build trust and goodwill. They offer ways to redistribute items to where there is need by people offering what they have. Communities are empowered when networks of people work together to meet common needs locally.

Visitors to our markets may have noticed some of our members promoting Timebanking - another type of community trading system complementary to green dollars.

In Green Dollars, our unit of measure is a WAI$ green dollar which is equivalent to a NZ dollar. This means we work on a rough mainstream market value.

In timebanking, the only unit of measurement is hours. Members offer time sharing skills in anything they choose from tutoring to gardening to crafts, childcare or companionship. The trades are based on time hours and every member's time is valued equally - from an accountant to a gardener. One hour equals one hour.

Timebanking is a way of sharing and growing skills and knowledge in the community, and a way for people to connect and ask for help, without the exchange of money.

As times are getting tougher for more people and others are becoming disillusioned by systems that seem unfair, we can choose to grow other alternatives that help to strengthen local systems and community networks.

We wish all our members and the wider Wairarapa community a happy and safe holiday season.