“We need to make ourselves an environment for change, not an

argument for change.”

-Ram Dass

At the 2011 Sustainability Town Hall:

400+ participants voted on a collective

challenge:

BUY LOCAL FIRST

The HOUR Exchange

We aspire to be a model for community based economic systems

that promote local commerce, fair wages, environmental responsibility,

regional self-sufficiency, and neighborliness.

By printing and circulating

community money we can: Help keep local businesses

thriving Support entrepreneurs,

repairs-persons, and other people seeking fulfilling employment

Network within the community to share local goods, knowledge, subsistence & prosperity

Reshape our beliefs about money, value and worth

More local circulation = community interdependence & security

More spending = more money for giants.

Vs.

Fact: HOURs are not as easy to spend as money.Fact: Using HOURs requires you to think.

•When we spend HOURs we get to learn where, how, and who produces and provides•We can be sure that fair wages and sustainable practices are supported

That thinking and effort pays off.

As we increase prevalence, we build our local resilience and subsistence capacity

When you buy, barter, or trade locally today you create connections and relationships for the future.

-Build up index of our local capacity,

-Foster employment apprenticeships and community development.

The HOUR Exchange seeks to build an environment for change.

• HOURs Members have been involved in the Coalition’s Economic Vitality Action Team from the beginning.

• HOURs Community Grant Funds Available to individuals or organizations working to promote economic justice, ecological sustainability, community building, food security or diversity.

• Coaltion’s “Prosperity Without Growth: Economics for a Finite Planet” Book Club.

Wisdom from Tim Jackson and CASSE

“Prosperity.. is present in the strength of our relationships and our trust in the community. It is evidenced by our satisfaction at work and our sense of shared meaning and purpose. It hangs on our potential to participate fully in the life of society.”

• Let’s evolve our behaviors to benefit our community.

• Let’s invest our purchasing power and personal fulfillment in a thriving local community.

• If we want credible alternatives we have to support and use them.

Buy Local With LocalBuy Local With Local

Ask us how you can become a member of HOURs. Join our email or phone list.

Questions??

• Call: 541-905-2111• Web:www.hourexchange.org• Facebook: Corvallis Hour Exchange • Or, contact me, Alana, directly at

ThirdHandDesign@gmail.com

““WeWe need to make need to make ourselves an ourselves an environment for environment for change, not an change, not an argument for argument for change.change.””

-Ram Dass-Ram Dass

Special Thanks and/or Photo Credit

• Annette Mills• Cheryl Good• Christina Calkins, Beth Russell, The HOURs

Board• Tim Jackson• Christina Macpherson, Alana Kenagy, Raina

Wickham, Sustainablecorvallis.org (Coalition website), Cheryl Good