Earth Element

The Earth Element is all about grounding out the dream of sustainability and will include a permaculture garden and alternative monetary system with the love bank at its heart.

We will build sculptures and art from natural materials decorating the area, we can leave much of what we create to develop at the next event.

COMPLEMENTARY CURRENCIES

As an integral part of the TRIBALOVE society, the Venus Lovexperience will feature its own currency – the ‘LOVE’ – a complementary money that will be used on site, in addition to £-sterling, between 1^st-6^th June 2012.

The LOVE is essentially a ‘Transition Pound’ – similar to the well-known, extremely successful Totnes, Lewes, or the brand new Bristol Transition £-Pounds – which have received much media interest over the past year.  However, whereas the other Transition £-Pounds have been issued as paper notes, the LOVE will be the first-ever Transition Pound that is issued as a specially minted coin.

These ‘Transition currencies’ are accepted as a legitimate ‘private’ currency by HM Revenue and Customs, (in much the same way as supermarket loyalty ‘rewards’, luncheon vouchers, or book tokens), which means that although the LOVE coins have no ‘official’ value, for trading purposes they are treated as “roughly equivalent to £1 sterling.”

WHY USE A ‘TRANSITION’ CURRENCY?

There are several reasons for our group having our own TRIBALOVE money.  The initial idea was to help distinguish our identity and independence as a society; to make a decided move away from the national £-sterling currency, which is tainted by its connections to Globalisation, and the increasingly discredited and bankrupt World Market and Banking System.

Much of the thinking behind alternative and complementary currencies stems from the fact that the national currencies, such as £-sterling, can easily transfer profit/wealth out of an area – particularly when people purchase from national ‘chains’ or supermarkets, or multi-national groups like coffee-houses or burger-bars.  The money spent in these types of establishment often ends up in the pockets of producers or shareholders on the other-side of the world!

Transition currencies are ‘local money’, which only have a value within a certain district or area.  The Totnes £-Pound is only a legitimate currency in Totnes and its immediate vicinity, like-wise with the Lewes and Bristol £-Pounds.  Therefore, the Transition currency can only be spent within the area, keeping the wealth-value of the note within the community – to the advantage of the local traders, producers, and retailers.  In this way, Transition currencies promote the re-localisation of wealth, and the local economy.

TRADING WITH LOVE COINS

• The LOVE coins will be treated as a legitimate currency, equivalent to £1 sterling within the Venus Lovexperience from 12 noon on Friday 1^st until 12 midnight on Wednesday 6^th June 2012.

5,000 LOVE coins will be available for circulation, each coin issued to attendees, traders, and retailers in exchange for £1 Sterling at the ‘LOVExchange’, which will be situated on-site.

Traders and retailers can redeem the value of their LOVE coins (one LOVE = £1 Sterling) from the ‘LOVExchange’, daily, between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm, from Saturday 2^nd until Wednesday 6^th June 2012.

From 12 noon on Friday 1^st until 12 midnight on Wednesday 6^th June 2012, we ask traders and retailers to accept the LOVE (up-to 30 coins in any one individual transaction/purchase) as equal in value to £1 Sterling.

Subject to availability, from 12 noon on Friday 1^st until 6 pm on Wednesday 6^th June 2012, we ask traders and retailers to ensure the LOVE coin is given – as equal in value to £1 Sterling – with change (up-to 20 coins in any one transaction’s issue of change).

We wish to reduce the circulation of LOVE coins after 6 pm on Wednesday – however, please do still issue LOVE coins in change after 6 pm – but ONLY if you are specifically asked for them.

The ‘LOVExchange’ will issue LOVE coins in sets of ten – in exchange for £10 sterling.  The £-sterling collected in exchange for the issue of LOVE coins will under-write the redeemable value of the LOVE coins returned by the traders and retailers.

If you feel a LOVE coin tendered may be a forgery, do not accept it as payment.  Ask the customer to check the validity of their coin with the LOVExchange.

The added benefit for traders and retailers is that the LOVE currency ‘keeps wealth within the Venus Lovexperience’ – encouraging people to trade on site.  Once issued the LOVE coins can only be spent on site; so encouraging the circulation of the coins increases the potential for trade.