Ane CRABTREE, a costume designer and stylist, was on location in Bulgaria when a professional chef e-mailed to say she'd be happy to give Crabtree free private cooking lessons when she returned. Then a neighbor in Angelino Heights e-mailed and offered to water her plants -- gratis -- the next time she goes out of town.
Both were responding to requests Crabtree posted on the Echo Park Time Bank, a new online -- and real-world -- community where time, services and expertise are bartered like sacks of rice and hops.
The concept is simple: Members create an online profile that includes a list of the work they'll do free, or "offers," along with a list of services, or "requests," they want in exchange. Dog walking, housesitting, guitar lessons, baby-sitting, help with Photoshop -- almost any intangible is allowed. Members don't exchange services directly with one another -- they trade with the bank. So the person who picked up apples and artichokes for you at the farmers market isn't waiting for you to return the favor.
Every hour volunteered earns a time dollar, which can be cashed in for services offered by any other member of the time bank. Crabtree, for example, did some cat-sitting last month, and now she's hoping to spend her time dollars on cooking lessons, cello instruction or Volkswagen maintenance tips.
At its core, time banking is about rekindling the kind of community spirit and thrift that existed before we got wrapped up in our iMacs and Motorolas, and paid for housekeepers and guitar lessons. But being cash-free and Web-based makes the ancient practice of bartering feel like the wave of the future. How appealing is it, in this economy, to not pay for a massage, haircut or accountant? Very.
The Echo Park group, which began in May, is the first official time bank to form in L.A., and with only 28 members, it's still in its infancy. But time banking is an international movement, with successful banks in London; Geneva; Barcelona, Spain; Vancouver, Canada; Detroit; and Portland, Maine. The concept was created in the mid-1990s by Edgar Cahn, the founder and president of TimeBanks USA and co-author of "Time Dollars."
Lisa Gerstein, owner of the vintage store Flounce on Echo Park Avenue, started the Echo Park group with artist Autumn Rooney. "It struck me that something completely based on trust could take place in a city," Gerstein said. "At the very least, good things can happen from it. At its best, there are magical things that can happen."
