ABSTRACT
The countries of the North bear the principal responsibility for the parlous state of the global environment. Wasteful energy use, and the production of goods using dirty technologies, have spread to the developing world, where environmental problems are exacerbated by highly unequal distribution of resources and rapid population increase. This chapter examines ways of finding a route out of the impasse created by unsustainable practices and policies. The principal aim is to encourage trade and exchange between participants in the scheme, rewarding people for the use of their skills and bringing benefits to those whose consumer power is limited. Local Exchange Trading Systems tokens, called by a variety of different names under different schemes, are used alongside official or legal tender, by matching local needs to local resources. Citizens of the industrialised countries, and large numbers of people in the South, are increasingly faced by growing problems in managing and disposing of wastes.
