If you want a glimpse of our world in centuries to come, stroll round a city. Dystopian-mongering pessimists will now be holding their heads in their hands and groaning. Can we blame them? Urban areas are too commonly associated with poverty, pollution, neglect and a brutalizing of the environment for the sake of a fast buck. Pretty? Only from high up.

But that’s the old model of city life. Crocodile Dundee wasn’t too far off the mark when he said cities must be friendly because so many people want …

Tags: amazon , bartering , bees , city , city as gym , craigslist , ebay , electric vehicles , fruit exchange , green roofs , guerrilla gardening , lifestyle , neighborhood fruit , retailing , urban , urban agriculture , waste food

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The collapse of the economy has had a curious effect on our culture. Shuttered chain stores and denuded neighborhoods have made us realize how unstable and unsustainable a society predicated on constant growth and fueled by the twin demon drugs of easy credit and cheap consumer goods can be. When the Circuit Cities go away and the lesser Starbucks close, we realize we didn’t really need them anyway.

All over the country, people are reconnecting with their communities, saving money, working cooperatively, bartering and living a less consumption-dominated life. …

Tags: bartering , buy handmade , Community , consumption , DIY , extraction , gardening , genuine , grassroots , greenwashing , localwashing , original , slow money , sustainability , the green plate

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Buying lots of new things seems to be going out of fashion.

It’s not hard to see why – you can’t spend what you don’t have. And while we’d always advocate shelling out for the best-quality, well-priced (i.e. not super-cheap) products, there’s another way to get exactly what you want on a tight budget. It takes a little more effort – but it’s fun, creative, and it’s been popular for thousands of years. It’s bartering.

Products or services, a straight swap or a fierce haggle…bartering is an online boom industry that’s never …

Tags: bartering , books , clothes , commerce , fashion , free , recycling , trade

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