Rebuilding our local economy from the ground up

INTRODUCTION

A local economy is like a leaky bucket - wealth comes in and as soon as it is spent at a shop or business that has more connections outside Totnes than inside Totnes, that money disappears. That's the nature of sterling.

However, local money doesn’t leak through the holes – it bounces around inside the local economy and maintains wealth.

Local money helps us think about our local economy, enquiring where our money goes once we spend it and finding ways to keep it from leaking out.

If we use our money for production and consumption closer to home, we're going to pay more attention to how those products are made, and the waste streams that result from them. It's similar logic to the premise that the Bhopal disaster in India would not have happened if the battery factory had been in the back garden of the Chief Exec of Union Carbide.

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HOW IT WORKS

 

You buy Totnes Pounds through one of the 6 Issuing Points in Totnes at £1 = T£1You can spend it at any of the 70+ shops or businesses in Totnes that display the “Accepted Here” logoYou can get: food, taxi rides, clothing, household goods, bike repairs, haberdashery, shoes, artists materials, booksThe list of traders accepting the notes are in the flyer, and the issuing points are marked with a star

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TIMELINE OF THE TOTNES POUND

Phase 1

 

May 2007300 Totnes Pounds given into circulation at a "Transition and Economics" event in the town18 shops accepted it

Phase 2

 

August 20076,000 Pounds sold into circulation (T£10 for £9.50)50 shops/businesses accepted it

Phase 3

 

January 2008Phase 2 pounds nominally expired (we honoured them for at least 18 months after this)replaced by new design of t£1 note6,500 in circulation (T£10 for £10)75 shops/businesses accept it

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HOW LOCAL CURRENCIES HAVE HELPED COMMUNITIES

There is a rich history of local currencies throughout the world

 

In the US in the Great Depression, many local currencies helped communities survive tough economic timesIn Europe between WWI and WWII, Worgl in Austria lifted itself out of povery with a local currency – the only town in Austria that flourished during that periodIn Argentina when the national currency collapsed in 1990s, local currencies sprung into action and helped maintain wealth and healthIn USSR during their collapse, the used VODKA as currency!

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WHAT THE TOTNES POUND HAS INSPIRED

 

Totnes’ currency experiment has inspired other towns to take this bold step - Lewes, Brixton, Stroud, Cardiff, BristolIn Italy, town mayors are resisting the economic hardships imposed by their government by launching local currenciesTransition Towns around the world are thinking about how a local currency might help them

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IN THE FUTURE...

The Totnes Pound, as a physical currency, is just the first small step into figuring out what kind of economic mechanisms are needed to support a robust local economy. There are lots of other developments being discussed:

 

Electronic currency using the internet and mobile phonesWorking with local credit unionsnew t£5, t£10 and t£20 notes using a local designerIf you want to get involved, send an email to ben@totnespound.org

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OUTCOMES SO FAR

Huge awareness raising tool, not just for the initiative but for the ideas of transition generally. It adds to the sense of local distinctiveness and is very timely practice at a small scale of mechanisms that might be needed very badly in the not too distant future.

We're not under any illusions about transforming the local economy at this point. Here's why.

 

number of households in Totnes = 3000guess at the average household income = £20kTotnes economy = £60,000,000appx number of Totnes pounds in circulation = 6000therefore the proportion of Totnes economy that is represented by Totnes pounds = 0.1%

This is a very small amount, but that's OK. Local currencies come into their own when there's a shortage of the national currency, and what's crucial is that the communities who might experience this shortage have experimented with different models and can switch across to them with minimal disruption.

We're also of the opinion that the Totnes Pound will become much more robust when it's joined by a healthy ecosystem of other local economic trading mechanisms like timebanks, local credit unions, electronic currencies and bartering.

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LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

Following a grant from Naturesave Trust (part of a local insurance company Naturesave), the Totnes Pounds is currently engaged in a community consultation to determine next steps in the currency's development.