Organisation > Central Coast LETS (Local Exchange Trading System)

PO Box 3151

Umina
2257, New South Wales

Organisation Details

Central Coast LETS - Helping people to help themselves... in so many ways!

More people are discovering that money (that stuff that allows us to trade among ourselves and buy goods and services) is in limited supply. Or is it?

Are dollars and cents the only thing we can use to value our time and our resources? Can the social stigma of being "unemployed" or "poor" be avoided?

Everyone has something to offer. Everyone's talents and time are worth something, even if they aren't able to trade them for money. It isn't money itself that is the "valuable" commodity. Currency is the way we are able to tell how many hours we need to work before we can afford the week's worth of groceries or to pay someone to pull the weeds out of our garden.

A Local Exchange Trading System (LETS) is a simple non-profit system that allows members to trade services and goods with other local people, without money!

It's a sort of "green economics" - it encourages local trading. Members provide services to other members. This can be anything from fixing a fence, to baking a cake, or walking the dog. Goods such as children's toys and clothing can also be traded. The group has businesses involved, including printers, counsellors and training organisations. Members are given a 1000 debit and credit limit of the local currency (called "Shells") and can begin trading straight away. There are regular market days to allow members to meet face to face and promote trading.

There are 100's of offerings online at www.centralcoastlets.org

The group is also a contributer to www.kiva.org to help alleviate poverty, so helping people to help themselves happens at the local level, as well as a global level. "Think global, act local"... even better, act on both!

Contact Us