Sunrise Trail Co-op: Making it Work for the North Shore
Solar power, wind power, environmental friendliness and local trade dollars all have one thing in common. They're high on the list of priorities for Annette Hunziker and 55 fellow members of the Sunrise Trail Community Development Co-operative. Set up in 2003, the co-op accepts new members who are recommended by a pair of existing members. When that happens, the new member automatically enters into the Local Economic Trading System or "LETS", which leads to the use of LETS dollars. Becoming a co-op member places an automatic $500 dollars in their LETS chequing account. "So you can utilize 500 dollars in services or goods. After you spend that money then you are obligated to offer a good or service in return," says Hunziker, who serves as the co-op's president. "So it's basically a trade system, except that we give it a monetary denomination known as LETS dollars in your own LETS bank account. That makes it easier for people to get their heads around it."
North Shore merchants and service providers located between Pugwash and Scotsburn, Pictou County take part in the local trading system, and as co-op members, they're active on several other fronts. "We plan to start manufacturing our own solar panels, we have somebody that can do that and make the area's eco-footprint as tiny as possible," she says. "And the windmill thing here is huge. That's another issue we're looking at...is maybe sponsoring the erection of some wind towers around here. You have to set the example; you can't just talk the talk." That ties in well with the group's aspiration to copy the Wolfville example of becoming a fair trade zone. On top of that, there's Film Fridays, where an independent film is shown every Friday evening. Movie fans can pay in LETS dollars or Canadian dollars. "We show films that would bring like-minded people together to form the basis for what would be the LETS program," says Hunziker. "We also do a film festival, which we had last year at Tatamagouche Centre, which was fantastic. These are steps to get local people aware of the structure and of what is necessary to keep ourselves self-sufficient and keep the business within the North Shore community and not watch our young people move away."
Looking back over the past four years, Hunziker recalls the uncertainty that was there in the beginning of the Sunrise Trail Co-op. "We saw all the little towns around here dying and it was really important to at least address the issue." Now that the issues are being solved, the members are on a path to growth and lots of new opportunities. One of those opportunities is a micro-loan system which Sunrise Trail Co-op members hope to roll out in the months ahead. With October 15th to 20th being designated as Co-op Week in Nova Scotia, the future looks bright for this high-energy group of families, who keep finding ways to make life sustainable in small-town Nova Scotia. |
