[LINK] Trade School Toronto Aims To Spur Barter Economy As Youth Seek Alternatives In Post-Recession World

[tomk]

Quote/ [From: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/09/28/trade-school-toronto-barter-economy_n_1922629.html]

Toronto student Marina Wilson, 13, will trade the secret behind her 
business of making fashion accessories out of duct tape for craft 
supplies. In exchange for baked goods, a 29-year-old economist at 
Deloitte will teach a lesson on basic economic issues.

Those are just some of the barter-for-knowledge exchanges set to take 
place during the inaugural session of Trade School Toronto 
<http://tradeschool.coop/toronto/class>, which kicks off on Saturday.

The first of its kind in Canada, the five-day program is an indication 
of the growing popularity of a post-recession "alternative economy," 
particularly among Millennials, according to organizer Michelle van Looy.

"In this generation, there's that shift, where capitalism has to look 
different for us," said van Looy, director of That's Women's Work Arts 
Network <http://www.thatswomenswork.com/>, a Toronto-based non-profit 
that aims to provide local artists with affordable exhibition 
opportunities.

Millennials or 'Gen Y' --- the generation loosely defined as those aged 
18 to 30 --- are grappling with high student loan debt and the residual 
effects of an economic downturn that left them with poor job prospects.

"People are relying more and more on each other. It's like, 'OK, I can't 
afford to go out and buy a brand new coat. But I can teach a class and 
the coat comes.' So your capitalistic needs are being met by the 
community," van Looy said.

Billed as a way to break down financial barriers and celebrate "the 
social nature of exchange," Trade School Toronto was inspired by a 
barter-for-knowledge group in New York City. Similar organizations have 
since sprouted in 20 countries around the world.

About 160 people have registered for Trade School Toronto sessions, 
which range from self-hypnosis and bike maintenance to personal finance 
and beginner needle felting, where participants will create a brooch or 
ornament using a felting needle and unspun wool.

Scheduled to run through October 3, Trade School Toronto will be held in 
a variety of spaces around the city. Van Looy said that she and fellow 
organizers Judy Verseghy, Cassandra Witteman, Nico Koenig, Elizabeth 
Fraser and Eric Rosenberg, all of whom work in the non-profit sector, 
secured event space through a combination of "begging, borrowing and 
offering to barter."

"It's such an opportunity for people who can't afford to go to classes," 
said Marina's mother Monica Kelly, who found out about the event through 
Facebook.

Kelly, 40, who homeschools her daughter, has signed up to teach lessons 
in vegan cooking and crocheting. (She has also asked to be compensated 
in craft supplies.)

Marina said she hopes the Trade School will allow her to grow the 
business she recently founded, Marina Rocks 
<http://www.facebook.com/MarinaRocksToronto>, where she has been selling 
wallets and other duct tape accessories in her spare time for the past 
six months.

"It will be fun and get my name out there. I like to be out with other 
people, teaching," said Marina, whose class is dubbed "Make Something 
Cool out of Duct Tape."

According to van Looy, Trade School Toronto students and teachers range 
in age from teenagers to seniors.

But the interest in knowledge-exchanges reflects a resurgence in 
bartering in recent years, particularly among young adults, who face a 
labour market that remains as grim as it did in the depths of the 
recession 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/09/08/canada-youth-unemployment-august_n_1865866.html>.

As Bloomberg News recently observed, clothing swap parties and online 
apparel swaps have become more common among younger U.S. consumers 
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-03/apparel-swapping-millennials-eschew-stores-and-malls.html> 
who prefer to trade clothes rather than buy them full-price. Meanwhile, 
in Halifax, Maclean's reports that a growing number of out-of-work 
university grads make ends meet by monetizing their hobbies 
<http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2012/07/26/basement-speakeasies-and-living-room-cafes/> 
in an underground economy that includes basement speakeasies and 
neighbourhood farm stands.

As Shannon Simmons <http://shannonleesimmons.com/>, 27, puts it: "Our 
baby boomer parents set us up for wanting things we can't afford. We 
grew up in these lavish houses. We went to nice schools, and now we hit 
the real world and we're like, 'Crap.'"

Simmons became a minor media celebrity when she quit her job with a top 
wealth management firm in 2010 to launch The Barter Babes project 
<http://barterbabesproject.com/>. Over the course of a year, hundreds of 
women traded goods and services for financial advice 
<http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/1073816--the-original-barter-babe-finds-wealth-beyond-cash> 
from the Toronto resident, who has since incorporated bartering into her 
monthly budget --- and includes it in the advice she gives to clients.

"Barter has grown in popularity by the demand of this demographic who 
wants to get what they want," said Simmons, who is leading Toronto Trade 
School's personal finance class in exchange for bike repair, knit hats 
and scarves and some outdoor patio furniture.

For a generation that thrives on validation and a sense of 
purposefulness, Trade School Toronto also holds another appeal, 
especially in the wake of the recession, when "work and money can be ... 
really isolating," said van Looy.

"You take whatever job you can get and you're happy for it even if it's 
not a good job. So this is the idea because you get to come teach what 
you know, teach what you love," she said.

"It's an opportunity for people to really use their skills in a way they 
wouldn't be able to in the mainstream workforce."

It's an idea that also appears to be gaining traction elsewhere in Canada.

When this program of Trade School Toronto is over, van Looy said that 
she and her fellow organizers plan to lend their expertise to a group in 
Vancouver, who have expressed interest in starting a similar 
organization there.

As for Toronto, she said, "We hope to have regular classes in regular 
spaces. It would be awesome if it could be something that goes on for 
years."/Quote