In this day and age, it is entirely possible to live in a neighborhood and not even know your neighbors. This is tragic. A neighborhood should be a resource to all that live in it and a place where you feel you belong. One way of meeting your neighbors is to start a Barter Circle. This type of collective is being started all over the country in the wake of the recession so that neighbors can help each other with daily activities and trade for goods and services.
Here’s how to get started in your neighborhood.
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Decide the type of collective you’d like to have. It is possible to swap just about anything. Think creatively. You can trade haircuts for grocery runs, mending for mowing, books for dvds, gardening for babysitting, home-cooked meals for simple home repairs, or soccer shoes for baseball shoes. The possibilities are endless.
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Make a flyer advertising and describing your collective/barter circle. To make sure you don’t miss your elderly neighbors, post it in a public place for all to see deliver it door to door.
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Have a central place where people can post what they have to share and what they need. It can be as simple as a bulletin board in a central area or at the foot of your driveway.
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Once people begin to post on the board, the collective should begin to take on a life of its own. Having block parties or potlucks can also help to encourage barter activities.
Rubbingnickels.com also has its own Barter Corner. If you are looking for a book for your book club or a gently used cookbook, check out our Barter Corner. We promise that it feels really good to give something you don’t want and get something you do.
Happy trading!
Darcy Ratner and Julie Arnheim
Founders, Rubbingnickels.com
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Here is an excerpt from an interview we did with Rhonda Sparks, founder of UV skinz. Rubbingnickels.com is looking for home-based business owners to share their business start-up experiences with us for our Cottage Industries feature. Please contact us from our home page if you have a story you’d like to share. We hope you learn from and enjoy her story.
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Give us your elevator pitch:
UV Skinz manufactures UV protective swim shirts and clothing for the entire family (sizes 6m to 4XL) and make it a top priority to provide the most fun, fashionable and affordable sun protection around! Most people don’t realize that over 1.3 million cases of skin cancer will be diagnosed this year; 1 in 5 Americans. Or that one severe sunburn as a child more than doubles the risk of getting skin cancer as an adult. We want to help change these statistics by raising awareness about the need for proper sun protection.
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Why did you start this business?
My husband was diagnosed with malignant melanoma at the young age of 27 and we lost him to the disease five years later. Once Darren was diagnosed with skin cancer, we became ultra aware of sun protection and made sure to keep our three young boys protected the best way we could. We soon realized that we needed to come up with something lightweight and breathable so that kids and adults alike would feel comfortable wearing shirts all day long in the sun.
Read the rest of this entry »
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1 large skinless and boneless whole chicken breast, split
2/3 cp butter
½ cup dry bread crumbs
2 tbsp. parmesan cheese
1 tspn. each basil and oregano
½ tspn. garlic salt
¼ cup dry white wine or apple juice
¼ cup sliced green onion
¼ cup chopped parsley
Melt butter. Combine bread crumbs, parmesan, basil, oregano and garlic salt. Dip chicken in melted butter, and roll in crumb mixture. Place in baking dish. Combine remaining butter with wine or apple juice, onion and parsley; set aside.
Bake chicken at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until golden brown and tender. Pour wine mixture over chicken; bake 5 minutes longer.
Serve with mashed potatoes and salad or steamed vegetables.
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One term we like to use at rubbingnickels.com is “eco-thrifty”. We came up with the idea last year when we began to realize that being ecological and being thrifty go hand in hand, especially when your green household includes the mantra reduce, reuse, and recycle. If you like these tips on being eco-thrifty in the kitchen, check out our other articles under our Eco-thrifty button.
To make your kitchen more eco-thrifty, try these tips:
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Don’t buy pump soap in the plastic bottle for near the sink. It costs more money than a simple bar of soap in a dish and puts plastic in the landfill.
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Wipe down your counters with warm soapy water rather than window cleaner or other sprays. Sprays cost much more and put unneeded ammonia down the drain and into the environment.
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Use up those leftovers! I have to admit that I throw my fair share of leftovers in the trash from the refrigerator. If you know you won’t use food in the next two days, try freezing them in small, lunch-sized containers that can be taken to work and microwaved.
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If you have the space and the cash, invest in a toaster oven for your kitchen. It uses less than half the energy of the large oven and doesn’t heat up the kitchen nearly as much. There are some great ones out there that can even bake a small chicken or a 12-inch pizza.
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Cut down on the use of plastic in the kitchen. Bowls, utensils, glasses and food storage made of glass, metal or wood often last longer and put less chemicals into the environment if they end up in the landfill.
Eco-thriftily yours,
Julie Arnheim and Darcy Ratner
Founders, Rubbingnickels.com
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a friend
