Crocker Galleria

Christina Oatfield, Green Zebra Environmental Action Center’s rockstar retail and events manager, is always sourcing interesting and innovative Power Hour topics centered around healthy, balanced and sustainable living. Knowing that she’s got something extra special lined up for this Thursday, we asked her to report on the upcoming topic: Bay Area Community Exchange, a time and resource sharing concept. Spark your interest here, then come in this Thursday, July 28th from 12-1 pm to the full scoop on how you can participate.
 
{Written by Christina Oatfield of Green Zebra Environmental Action Center}
 
With economic recession and threats to the environment abound in our world today, many community groups and individuals are pointing to sharing and bartering as strategies that should re-gain importance in our daily lives. Chances are that you or someone you know has participated in an organized food swap or a car sharing program, or works in a shared work space, or regularly participates in sharing in more informal ways, such as in a potluck setting or by lending yard tools to a neighbor. There is now a field of law developing to help people share and an online magazine dedicated to sharing. San Francisco hosted a whole conference about sharing in May–and this wasn’t the first of sharing conferences.
 
How can sharing help build community, save money and improve people’s quality of life? The Bay Area Community Exchange, a time bank that allows individuals to exchange services on an hour-for-hour basis with other members, has the following to say:
 
Many of us have friends, neighbors and family members who help us out, but they can’t always be there. A community timebank is like having an extended family to help out. Whether you give a music lesson, take care of someone’s pet, or take someone to a doctor’s appointment, one hour given equals one hour you can then use. The BACE Timebank honors the unique gifts, talents and resources that each of us has to share, regardless of age, employment or ethnic background, such as tutoring, yard work, repairs, running errands, and storytelling. Timebanks also help enrich our lives with things we may not normally be able to afford, like language lessons or massage. Spending time dollars instead of cash, can help you save money for expenses like rent, medicine, and food.
 
How can sharing help reduce our impact on the environment? Here’s just a partial list of things you could share that would generally reduce their impact on the environment compared to you having one all to yourself (idea list thanks to The Sharing Solution):

 
• cars
• garden tools
• office space
• houses (and all of their contents)
• household appliances
• books
• clothes

 
And here are some eco-friendly practices that you may not have time for by yourself, but might have time to if you were sharing the work with other people in your household or neighborhood:
 

• having a backyard vegetable garden or chicken coops
• compost heaps
• home-made food
• a CSA delivery

 
You can find these and more ideas at The Sharing Solution’s website.
 
Want to start sharing right away? The Green Zebra Environmental Action Center in the Crocker Galleria will be hosting a Power Hour event with Seth Mazow and Rick Simon of the Bay Area Community Exchange time bank on July 28 to get you started! Find out more here.