“They came and when they realized it was quality advice and you actually walk away with real tools you can use — they said, this is actually worth it and there’s no catch. They started to spread the word big time and I literally watched my inbox explode,” says Simmons.

Read more at: http://www.thestar.com/news/article/1073816

The driver allowed police to search the bus, and in a safe they found what appeared to be dried mushrooms and a large quantity of a white powdery substance in individually-wrapped packages, Somday said.

He said the man told police that the packages contained a legal hallucination-inducing drug that he was not selling, but that he was accepting $10 donations for them.

More at http://www.wenatcheeworld.com/news/2011/oct/24/barter-fair-cooperation-yields-drug-bust/

“At its most basic level, Time banking is simply about spending an hour doing something for somebody in your community. That hour goes into the Time Bank as a Time Dollar. Then you have a Time dollar to spend on having someone doing something for you. It’s a simple idea, but it has powerful ripple effects in building community connections.

Each Time Bank has a website where you list what you wou…ld like to do for other members. You look up Time Bank services online or call a community coordinator to do it for you. You earn Time Dollars after each service you perform and then you get to spend it on whatever you want from the listings.

With Time Banking, you will be working with a small group of committed individuals who are joined together for a common good. It connects you to the best in people because it creates a system that connects unmet needs with untapped resources. To see what happens each week when you are part of Time Bank is deeply fulfilling, especially if you are helping to make it run. ”

From Time Banks, USA:
http://www.timebanks.org/

Bartering, the trading of goods and services without the exchange of money, is becoming a common practice in Arizona, according to local experts.

“We bring our members a client they may have never had and then help them use those dollars to pay for things they would otherwise pay for in cash — payroll, employee benefits, etc.,” said Christie Acevedo, CEO of the Value Card Alliance.

Companies that sign up for a free membership with the alliance may exchange their goods or services with other members in return for “virtual dollars,” which in turn may be used to purchase the new medical and dental flex plan.

The plan provides employees and up to five dependents each with a health care card that grants them access to an online system containing a directory of specialists, health care recommendations and storage for uploading medical files.

Acevedo said the online component took about a year to develop and is crucial to the overall plan, because it allows employees to go online to track the use of their medical plan.

The plan went into effect on Sept. 12.

Read more at http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/morning_call/2011/09/barter-group-launches-health-plan.html

While the ideal ratio for the animal in the wild should be 1:3 (one male rhino : three female rhinos), in many forests of North Bengal, the number of male rhinos equals the females.

In an attempt to improve the sex ratio, officials have written to the Assam Forest Department, proposing an exchange of 20 female rhinos from the Kaziranga National Park for 20 male rhinos from the state.

More at http://www.indianexpress.com/news/rhino-barter-with-assam-to-correct-sexratio/812386/

Imagine living on the fruits of your own labor. Being able, for instance, to trade a bag of cherries picked from your tree for a loaf of freshly baked bread and a jar of honey. Or bartering a pair of handmade earrings for a pound of zucchini and a bunch of basil. Imagine creating a gourmet meal without having to spend a dollar.

Impossible? Not if you frequent the Trader’s Co-op in Mount Shasta.

“At the Co-op, you can barter and trade handcrafted goods, homemade foods, garden produce, seeds and even sprouts,” said Leslie Ellorin, leader of the Co-op. “If you’ve made or grown it, you can bring it.”

“Bartering is more about satisfying needs than just using money to get what we want,” she said. “It’s really a way of life.
The Co-op is a social event, and it builds self esteem; people discover that what they grow or what they create has value.”

“Exchanges during the event teach people to appreciate the worth of their own goods and services,” Ellorin added. “They begin to look at homegrown food as real, to see that it’s as real as the food we get from the store. And to see that homemade items have intrinsic value, too.”

Although the Co-op meets only once a month, bartering is an on-going process. Participants can sign up on one of four lists used year round. One list is entitled, “Services for trade; the second is “Services Desired; the third is “Items for sale or trade,” and the fourth is “Free.”

More at http://www.mtshastanews.com/news/x381616844/A-barter-way-of-life-the-Mount-Shasta-Trader-s-Co-op

If you’ve got a backyard garden and find you’re producing too much of one crop for your own use, you can swap with other gardeners. So instead of making 17 zucchini breads, you can unload your zucchini for somebody elses surplus tomatoes, or whatever.

New York is one of only five states that doesn’t place any restrictions on the trade of bear gallbladders and bile, which is a component in some traditional Chinese medicine.
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The bill’s sponsors in Albany argue that the New York loophole encourages poaching and puts bears at risk.

The bill amends environmental conservation laws to prohibit the “possession, sale, barter, offer, purchase, transportation, delivery or receipt” of bear gallbladder or bile.

According to the bill’s sponsors, bears are often killed specifically for those parts.

Once signed, the law takes effect Jan. 1.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York