This is the twenty-third issue of my free newsletter. Your feedback is most welcome!
Leaps, skips, and hops are the “Current-see” of Earthaven Ecovillage. It isn’t “legal tender,” but it is “tender and kind visionary economics,” as each piece of our brightly colored paper currency proclaims. One hour of work equals one Leap, valued at $7. There are half-Leaps and quarter-Leaps, and 4-Leap bills. Although our alternative currency system is still in its infancy, it is much more developed than the system I was familiar with in Berkeley (Berkeley Regional Economics and Development, BREAD).
How does it work? First, every resident at Earthaven, whether a full member or a short-term work exchanger, is required to do an average of 4 hours of community service per week. Full members have a lifetime requirement of 1500 service hours, although many folks continue to do service work long afterwards. Community service can consist of anything from committee work, to cutting and hauling firewood, to writing up minutes for a Council meeting, to cooking lunch for Saturday visitors, to cleaning the Council Hall.
How we decide what qualifies as community service and what doesn’t is sometimes tricky. For instance, if a member provides childcare so another member can attend a Council meeting, that qualifies as community service. But if the parents just want to go to the movies, they pay the sitter in cash or Leaps themselves. Building shelves or stairs for the community’s library was not deemed a high enough priority to be considered community service work. However, the library committee cleverly solved the problem by holding a “Leap auction” fundraiser. Many people gave away stuff they no longer wanted, such as books or clothing, while others donated services, from massages to gardening. It was a lot of fun, and I got a lovely slightly used dress for 2 Leaps, while I donated a biofeedback session. It wasn’t hard to raise a bunch of Leaps which are now being used to pay workers to build bookcases and work on the stairs up to the library.
Having the alternative currency be linked to goods and services which are part of everyday exchange seems to be important to its success. In Berkeley, although there was a beautiful directory of goods and services needed and offered that was published every quarter, the BREAD system never really caught on. Here at Earthaven, everyone needs to fulfill their community service hours requirement. People who use the Hut Hamlet kitchen and showers are also required to pay 6 Leaps per quarter, and if they live in the Hamlet, they pay extra Leaps for the use of the infrastructure there. If I need help on a personal project such as building a fence and am willing to pay Leaps for it, the person who builds my fence can count those Leaps toward their community service requirement, or their Hut Hamlet leaps. When a member of the Forestry Co-op cuts down trees, he is paid in Leaps for logging. A portion of those logging-Leaps can be used to pay his site fee; this provides an incentive for people to log trees, a service which is badly needed here to clear land for agriculture and home-building. When I earn more Leaps than I need to fulfill my community service hours, I can either apply them toward my “Lifetime Leaps” total of 1500, or spend them on things like herbal medicine from our local business, Red Moon Herbs; or firewood, or services from other members who are willing to take Leaps. Soon, we hope to expand the list of things that can be bought with Leaps, to promote greater use of them.
Recently, about 10 members put on a wonderful play, a spoof on life at Earthaven, for the rest of us. They had spent many hours rehearsing and making costumes, and they provided refreshments (including home-brewed mead); so, they charged everyone one Leap for admission (or $7). One young man dressed up as a frog hopped around croaking, “Got Leaps?” and looking on approvingly as other actors grudgingly did their community service work. Earthaven’s treasurer (the “Waterbearer”) played herself, eagerly accepting Monopoly money from everyone.
Of course, there is accounting work to do. Everyone is required to turn in a Leap sheet each quarter, and new members and Work Exchangers must turn theirs in each month. And of course, some people balk at having to write down the work they have done, or get behind and have to do a lot of catching up. No-one likes the role of cop, and the system is far from perfect. “Is it Leapable?” is a question that can’t always be clearly answered.
Recently, a “Barter-Board” was put up. People fill out and post little cards with their name and the service or item they’d like to offer. Anyone wanting the service can take the card; they are encouraged to “pay it forward” by offering a service, which might not be to the same person whose service they used. The idea is to promote a “gift economy” where the circle of giving and receiving gets larger and larger. There is also a space for posting a list of services and goods that are needed. Of course, a great deal of informal barter goes on at Earthaven, such as receiving a meal in exchange for doing a task, or doing some work in trade for a counseling session, a babysitter, etc. The folks who use the White Owl Café for yoga on weekday mornings reciprocate by cleaning the floors there regularly.
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