I had never heard of “community currencies” until earlier today. But, what a great idea! I especially like fureai kippu, a community currency used in Japan for elderly people. Fureai Kippu is roughly translated “Caring Relationship Tickets.” It is designed to encourage people to help one another—especially for the younger citizens to help the older citizens. Each person has an account. If you help an older person, say you run errands for them, help clean their home, do some yardwork, etc... then for each hour you get one ticket. Now, you can save up your tickets for when you are older or disabled, or you can transfer your tickets to another account, like your parents or grandparents.
“A surprising part of the project has been that the elderly tend to prefer the services provided by people paid in Fureai Kippu over those paid in yen. This may be due to the personal connection developed between users of the currency.”
“Fureai Kippu expert Masako Kubota notes that perhaps its most positive impact is in ‘bringing old and young together to help each other in ways they never imagined.’” Interesting way to think about currency. Here are some other articles: Fureai kippu Time Bucks Complementary Currencies Labels: interesting concepts |
sounds cool! let's do it!! :o)