Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay Harbor, ME
“Bit o’ Heaven ~ Life in the slow lane” is not just about Maine living, it’s about supporting local businesses, getting a bigger bang for your buck, and tackling our problems head-on while becoming more independent, efficient, and effective and thereby collectively building a better future for all Mainers.
One marvelous idea that I recently read about, is to have the various communities band together by establishing time-banks.
Portland, ME Waterfront
Cow Island, Casco Bay Maine
In the AARP magazine edition dated February/March 2012, was an article on a fantastic idea called “time banks”. Fortunately for the savvy folks in the Greater Portland area, a time-bank has already sprung up. It’s called the “Hour Exchange Portland” which banks “time credits” (or time “dollars”) for doing things like yard work, or offering cleaning or de-cluttering services, weatherization projects, gardening, help with tax returns, or even something like helping to create a community blog. In return for “time banked” the participants can swap time (hour-for-hour) in order to get much needed rides to Dr. appointments, help with the grocery shopping or trips to the pharmacy… the list goes on. This is the simplified explanation… but if you read the article entitled “More for Your MONEY… Saving Like Clockwork” (pg. 20 of the Feb/Mar issue 2012) you’ll see what I mean. It’s such a great idea, I just had to mention it, because this would make living in Maine even more tolerable in these crazy economic times. In effect, this might be the start to creating a resource-based economy with no associated taxes. That’s where it differs from bartering which does carry a tax burden.
For information on how you can get started in your community please check out the following websites:
Hour Exchange Portland
Time Banks Organization
Spring Point Lighthouse, So. Portland, ME
