Advantages of LETS to the ecomomy
Before people began using gold as a form of currency, they improvised by trading goods through the barter system.
Today, grassroots groups are sprouting up across the country and creating their own trading system using ecodollars instead of cold hard cash. Members keep track of their account balances with the central computer of the Local Employment and Trading System (LETS) computer for the Ottawa chapter.
Under this system, one ecodollar equals one Canadian dollar. The Ottawa chapter, which is a year and a half old, has close to 100 members who trade services such as computer lessons, babysitting, bicycle repair and freezer space. The quirkiest trade ever made involved vegetable sculpting services for dinner parties.
Merley Agbeko, who recruits LETS members, said that it's something that's been around for a long time that's just been revived. Most of us are used to going to our neighbours to borrow little things, like a cup of sugar, she said. This is a little more formalized.
"It's a good way to hang on to as much money as possible by trading services as much as possible," Merley said.
The system was originally developed in British Columbia, Canada in 1983. There are now close to 1,000 communities with LETS chapters throughout the world.
Bethany Sutton, chair of the Ottawa chapter of LETS, explained that her motivation for participating in this alternative economy was in reaction to all the Harris cuts (social spending reductions implemented by the Ontario provincial government).
Participating LETS allow unemployed people to continue to feel productive, and Bethany encourages young people affected by the high youth unemployment rates (17 per cent) to consider joining or founding their own chapters. Not only does it keep them busy but it allows them to trade services they otherwise couldn't afford.
The organization is trying to keep money in the community and provide opportunities for people to meet each other through their hobbies and strengths.
Most LETS chapters charge a nominal fee. In this case it costs real $10 to join and you get ECO$ 300 in exchange.
Members are expected to negotiate prices, one-on-one, depending on both parties needs and expectations. However, the general rule is to charge ECO$ 10 an hour and limit trades to ECO$ 300.
Bethany, for instance, charges ECO$ 10 for babysitting as well as international consulting (outside LETS she can charge up to $300 an hour).
"A lot of us are not used to negotiating a price," she said. "It means we can discuss the philosophy of how people are paid."
A newsletter is mailed out on a bi-monthly basis and lists all the services. Members contact each other directly by phone and once a deal is set the buyer calls in the trade to be recorded by the LETS computer.
Members don't go into debt if their purchases exceed their balance but rather enter into commitment with each other. Another part of the LETS philosophy is not to charge interest.
Terri Cottam, a member of the Ottawa chapter of the Local Exchange and Trade System, enjoys not having to rely on the cash economy for all his purchases adding that he is slowly learning how to haggle.
"You don't encounter it much in garage sales," he said.
For him, LETS is partly a reaction against the cash-driven economy as well as the fact that Terri says money is becoming increasingly scarce. He also likes the fact that it creates a better sense of community so that you're not really trading with strangers.
Trading between neighbours is not a "hard sell", he says. People are used to shopping in stores where the prices are set, so there is an adjustment to be made.
"There are different ways of doing business. It doesn't have to be all malls, glitz," Terri said. "Trading can be fun among friends."
www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/lets
Homemaker LETS
© 1997 - TG Magazine / The Students Commission
© 1997 le magazine TG / la Commission des étudiants