Chains of kindness: Hexitime leverages timebanking as collective care
By making visible the invisible in this way, we hope that in time, Hexitime will contribute to a workplace culture in which the gifting of time becomes ubiquitous.
gift economy
How free stores fight waste, connect communities and foster resilience
Free stores are exactly what they sound like: Physical places where people can donate items they no longer want and others can shop among these items and take what they want or need without paying cash for them.
Beverly Free Box helps neighbors build community and fight waste
Free Box participants believe it is better to put things no longer used in one household into the hands of others who need them, rather than allow them to go into landfills.
Gifts are a love language. But in the era of climate change, what are we really saying?
We need to build a truly healthy and sustainable economy, where “robust” growth is fueled not only by exchanging new stuff, but by gifts of care, gifts of service, gifts of experience and, occasionally, gifts of truly good stuff.
Appalachia’s Front Porch Network Is a Lifeline
Appalachia knows need, and knows that in times of increased struggle, need increases for all. While much of the country might fall back at this time, Appalachia has stepped up in ways both official and grassroots. “Pandemic or not,” Keller said, “we still have a job to do.”
How Sharing Offers and Needs Can Shatter Gender Stereotypes
IGNITE Youth is organizing upcoming Offers and Needs Markets to multiply local exchange and build a more vibrant economy in Zimbabwe. As the talent and wealth in their own community became visible, they felt that anything was possible.
Flowers of the Food Forest: Reciprocity and the Obligation of Gifts
“Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.”
Buy Nothing Ever…er, I Mean Day
This Black Friday we’re inviting everyone to join us and our friends at Adbusters in celebrating “Buy Nothing Day.” We’re not asking you to become a Grinch, or completely abstain from Christmas or Hanukkah or whatever form of gift giving ritual you and yours celebrate. But maybe take a pass on this most egregious day of consumeristic binging.
“The Price on Everything Is Love”: How a Detroit Community Overcomes a Lack of City Services
Three years ago, the city of Detroit named DHEO “Organization of the Year” for its role helping families recover from a fire that burned seven homes to the ground, just blocks from Ramirez’s home. Her generosity has extended beyond helping people in need.
When Buying Nothing Gives You More of Everything
In addition to the obvious economic savings, the occasional hassle of giving and getting free stuff actually has a more profound advantage: You feel the physical and mental burden of having to gift every item you no longer want in your home, and it’s an embodied lesson in the cost of consumerism that’s quite effective…
Dutch Collective Broodfonds Provides Gift-Based Health Insurance for Freelancers
Freelance workers are known to be intrepid by nature. But perhaps the bravest — and most vulnerable — among them are those who don’t have anyone to rely on for financial help, in case they become disabled or too ill to work. That problem appears to have been addressed in the Netherlands, thanks to a trio that came up with the idea for Broodfonds (English translation: Breadfunds), an alternative kind of disability insurance that can replace lost income.
Fig Nation
What took place here is an example of what I call “Fig Nation,” an informal farm economy and community based on producing, sharing, and enjoying. The concept of Fig Nation is simple: A few weeks back, my nephew and I harvested five pounds of elderberries. We cleaned, bagged, and tossed them in the freezer. Yesterday I pulled them out and combined them with water and honey to make an elderberry mead. Come winter, I’ll enjoy the mead with guests. Welcome to Fig Nation, where sharing brings pleasure and automatic membership.