11/10: Fixers Collective Planning Meeting

Finger Lakes ReUse invites anyone who has things to repair, wants to help fix items, or wants to learn how to fix items to a planning meeting for our new fixers collective on November 10th at the ReUse Center at the Triphammer Marketplace, 2255 N Triphammer Road, Ithaca. The fixers collective is open to anyone who wants to prolong the lifespan of items such as home electronics, furniture, small appliances and more. The planning meeting will be 3pm to 4pm, followed by a fixer lab from 4pm to 5pm. Please fill out the fixers collective survey to let us know if you are interested in attending or in learning more.

We will meet in the Furniture Overflow Showroom (the storefront to the right of the ReUse Center) at Triphammer Marketplace.

Bring your ideas – this will be a collaborative and evolving effort and will be guided by those who are actively participating – so your thoughts and input at this first meeting will be very important, but there will be lots of opportunity to grow and improve the collective! We hope to start small but really grow this event into a vibrant community experience. One of our largest current challenges is that we have zero storage space, so projects will need to be portable – in and out each time we meet. We can offer a heated space, large work table, an assortment of tools, and internet access to research fixes, but we’ll have challenges with projects that may take more than a couple of hours to fix, etc. Feel free to bring along tools and an item that needs to be fixed. We’ll leave the last hour for repair attempts – although no guarantees that we’ll have the skillset, tools, or time to tackle your project. We’ll see! Let’s meet and talk from 3pm to 4pm, and have a fixer lab from 4pm to 5pm. Future meetings (time and frequency) will be discussed at the meeting, but will hopefully continue to evolve and expand – we’ll continue to publish updates to the full email list.

There was some interest in the initial survey responses in paying a fee to have items fixed – so one of the topics we will be considering is some sort of sliding-fee structure which will support this effort. We can give you an update on FLR job training programs and initiatives to support underserved individuals in Tompkins County.

Looking forward to seeing you Saturday!

Diane

Diane Cohen
Executive Director, Finger Lakes ReUse, Inc.

A Declaration of Interdependence

Via Hour World

VIDEO: “We think of this as a love currency.”

This video from a time banking conference is so inspiring – go California! Via Swidjit

Click here to learn about local trade networks.

10/13: Creating a Sustainable Marketplace

Please join us for this event, which is organized by The SEEN…

What does a sustainable marketplace look like to you?

Come join us on Thursday, October 13th for a panel presentation on four innovative systems in Ithaca that facilitate local exchange:

Thursday, October 13, 5:30-8:30pm
The Space @ GreenStar
700 W. Buffalo Street, Ithaca, NY
RSVP on Swidjit

For the entry fee, we are accepting Ithaca Hours at twice their standard equivalence (typically $10 = 1 Hour), so bring your Hours!
The entry fee (to cover food & space) is:
$5 or a quarter Hour for SEEN members
$10 or a half Hour for non-members

Paul Strebel presents Ithaca Hours
Leslie Strebel presents Time Banking
Shira Golding presents Share Tompkins
Alex Colket presents Swidjit

Come learn about how new technologies are reviving traditional localized economies. Learn how you can leverage these systems for personal growth or to bolster your business.

The panel will be followed by a Community Market that draws from all four innovations and welcomes your own creative input. Let’s co-create a marketplace that builds community, enriches our lives, and strengthens the local economy.

Bring the following:
Your questions on the above topics
Your ideas about sustainable markets
Your items to trade
Your list of haves and wants
Your Ithaca Hours
Your friends

We look forward to seeing you there!

SEEN members are also invited to table at the event and sell goods and services for which they accept Ithaca Hours. If you are a SEEN member interested in tabling, reserve your spot by emailing info@TheSEEN.org.

About The SEEN
The Sustainable Enterprise & Entrepreneur Network (The SEEN) is a growing community of businesses, organizations, and individuals working together to achieve ecological, social, and financial success. Members of The SEEN bring a Triple Bottom Line perspective to the Finger Lakes regional marketplace. Their commitment to sustainable practices helps them lower risk, increase customer loyalty, and generate sustainable profitability for their businesses. They contribute to the broader community by building a strong and resilient local economy and helping to safeguard our shared future.

Meet Swidjit!

We’re very excited about this new local web platform that makes it easier to share and barter online and which has the potential to bolster our local economy. Creator Alex Colket explains…

Hello Share Tompkins,

I’m writing you today to introduce you to Swidjit, a new Ithaca-based website designed to strengthen the local economy and provide greater access to the wealth of goods, skills, and other resources that surround us. Swidjit has a commercial aspect, but it also places a strong emphasis on bartering, sharing and otherwise making it easier to survive/thrive with less dependence on money. Of course, this is something Share Tompkins has already been doing here for the last couple of years, and you should all feel proud of your role in this critical and beautiful change that is currently unfolding in places like Ithaca. The momentum you have built is one of the main reasons that Ithaca is poised to take the idea of local economy to the next level and demonstrate how a modern US community can learn to flourish within its means. Thanks!

Press: Share Tompkins in Tompkins Weekly Article about Economics of Happiness Screening

On April 27th, we were invited to speak about Share Tompkins as part of the panel discussion following the community screening of the film The Economics of Happiness.

The event was featured in an article by Eric Banford in the May 2-8 issue of Tompkins Weekly. You can read the full article on the Sustainable Tompkins site and here are some key excerpts:

Share Tompkins has been hosting monthly swaps and “Really, Really Free Markets” and co-founder Shira Golding said they
have received email from all over the U.S. and as far away as the UK,
asking how to start similar ventures…

Shira Golding and McKenzie Jones-Rounds of Share Tompkins talked about real life swap examples fostered through swap meets. Jones-Round swapped for a cello that wasn’t being used for a year of
guitar lessons. She shared that, “It’s not just about the stuff we keep out of the waste stream or save money on, it’s also about instilling in the kids in the community the value of who they are and what it means to be part of something bigger than themselves. It’s good to be someplace where people aren’t just willing to share their things, but they share themselves too. We are building a resilient, self-reliant, non-monetary based economy through this.”

April 27: Economics of Happiness Screening and Community Conversation

Wednesday, April 27, 7-9:30pm
Cinemapolis
120 E. Green St., Ithaca, NY
RSVP on Facebook

Sustainable Tompkins is hosting a community conversation on sustainable economy at Cinemapolis. We’ll be screening the Ithaca premiere of The Economics of Happiness – a film by Helena Norberg-Hodge, Steven Gorelick and John Page, and a project of the International Society for Ecology and Culture (ISEC). Former Ithacan and LACS graduate, Kristen Elizabeth Steele of the ISEC will be here to introduce the film.

Relocalization of our economy is essential if we are to buffer ourselves from speculative bubbles and escalating food and energy prices. How can we transform our personal household economies to build in long-term resiliency and well being? How can we work together to design a local economy that works for everyone and takes advantage of the power of entrepreneurship, sharing, self-provisioning, and local investment? What principles should guide us?

After the first screening, a panel of local community leaders from Sustainable Tompkins, Southside Community Center, Share Tompkins, Local First Ithaca, Tompkins County Workers Center, Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County, Alternatives Federal Credit Union, and Tompkins Workforce NY will outline our progress in creating a more sustainable local economy and suggest opportunities to pursue in the next few years.

Audience members are encouraged to bring their ideas and to share news on other local initiatives. Tickets are offered on a sliding scale of $5-$10 at the door, or can be purchased in advance by contacting elizasalon@yahoo.com. A second screening at 9:30 will be at standard prices.

Co-sponsored by Sustainable Tompkins, Green Resource Hub, Sustainable Enterprise & Entrepreneur Network, Share Tompkins, Local First Ithaca, Tompkins County Workers Center, Alternatives Federal Credit Union, Social Ventures, Southside Community Center, Tompkins Workforce NY, Tompkins County Climate Protection Initiative, Interfaith Action for Healing Earth and Ithaca Hours.

Help name a new sharing platform!

From Steve Austin:

We need your help choosing a name for our Share Network tool. What is a Share Network? A Share Network is a system where users can exchange goods and services in a currency other than money. Our system will allow users to sign up, name their Share Network, determine the value and unit of exchange of their currency and invite friends to join and start trading.

Some examples of possible Share Networks include:
* A community garden – members earn work credit, redeem for vegetables
* A Food Coop – members earn work credit for shopping privileges
* Community Organization – volunteers earn credits, redeemable for space rental
* Coffee Shop – customers earn rewards for bringing their own cup, redeemable for discounts
* Local dance studio – tracks attendance and offers reward discounts.
* Summer program – track credits earned from participation, redeemable for Popsicles.

Please help us narrow our choices and if you wish, enter another possible suggestion in the last option. Fill out the form online.

Thanks for your help!

Photos: Newfield Swap/Tweetup

We had a great time at Phoebe and Matteo’s in Newfield with tons of people, food and, of course, stuff! Almost everything people brought went in the “free” pile, which suggests folks really do like no-strings-attached sharing. The event was also a tweetup, meaning locals who make posts to twitter, had a chance to meet up face-to-face to hang out.

Here are some photos from the first half of the event – stay tuned for more!

Vodpod videos no longer available.

Share Tompkins Community Swap Meet #11 – Newfie…, posted with vodpod

Share Tompkins Inspires Sharing Across the Atlantic

Check out this email from Andy in the UK!

Hi Share Tompkins People,

OK and very big hello from Malvern in the UK, I’m Andy and I’ve been very inspired by your local community group ( I’ve even quoted it in my dissertation) and have taken a great deal of inspiration from your site in setting up my own similar project where I live. The difference is mine is an experiment which although part of a degree course is still something I’m very much into. It’s based on just one small street where I live and seeing if a sense of community and neighbourly interaction can’t be given a boost. It’s a friendly enough place but nowadays people tend to keep themselves to themselves and it like were all afraid to mix for some strange reason.

And so the idea is to foster and grow a sense of community spirit , it’s only a little tiny thing in this big old world but I’m hoping it grows, point is I wanted to thank you for the inspirational site and things you get up to out there in Share Tompkins land.

It would be lovely to hear from someone as getting this community going is a bit like getting blood from a stone…Funny lot the English I think I’m an aberration from the norm!!

Cheers,
Andy Jones
Malvern, UK

…Onwards and Upwards

PS I’m the one with the big ears!

Check out the “Our Street” website.