Debate Your Plate.com

Debate Your Plate is set to launch in a few weeks time - in the meantime here is a taster of a film we made about the Brixton Pound.

The Brixon Pound, launched in September 2009,  was the UK’s first independent urban currency.

The BBC writes…

Brixton, South London is famous for its street life, nightlife and all too often, its crime.

September 2009 will see the launch of the Brixton Pound, making it the third place in the country to have its own local currency.

Brixton currency

The scheme is being launched by Transition Town Brixton and works a bit like a gift voucher.

The idea is that you buy Brixton Pounds (for the price of £1 each) and spend them in the local independent shops that have signed up.

The shopkeepers will keep them and offer them as change to those who want them, keeping the money circulating through the area.

For every Brixton Pound that has been bought, £1 in Sterling will be kept at the Lambeth Savings and Credit Union.

You can change the local currency back into normal cash at certain designated places.

Spend locally

The idea behind the scheme is to support local business, encourage people away from large chain stores and hopefully to help the environment by making people travel less.

But some are sceptical about the scheme, accusing it of being protectionist – putting up a trade barrier that means less money will be spent in the surrounding areas such as Streatham or Peckham.

Some shopkeepers we spoke to were also concerned that they could end up with hundreds of Brixton Pounds in the till that people would not want to take in change.

Rather than simply put them in the bank, they will they have to go to the effort of changing the notes back into Sterling.

There are currently thousands of local currencies in operation over the world.

For some they represent a new more sustainable way of living.

For others, they are a route back to the middle ages, when every town had its own currency.