Transylvania Shares planning notes from October 2, 2019

Hello All, We had our most recent Coop Committee meeting last Wednesday, October 2, at Oskar Blues. We covered marketing topics. In attendance: James, Kim, Gail, John, Kathleen and Ed. We covered marketing and related topics. Here is a summary of the meeting: Firstly, Kim wanted to add a new Principle to our List of Principles: 'We will prioritize purchasing used equipment over new' This was discussed and agreed upon by the group. The first question that we discussed was 'Who can Join the Coop'. The answer is any resident of Transylvania County, upon making application. The second question was 'How Can They Join'. We discussed having both an on-line application and a paper application. There was some discussion about what criteria (such as part-time residency) might affect membership. There was discussion that the Transylvania County Library faces the same kind of issues. Kim took an Action Item to check with the Library on how they qualify people. What will be the fees for membership? We will charge an annual [...]

By |2019-10-07T14:07:46-04:00October 7th, 2019|Categories: Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Sharing Club|

Sharing sharing sharing…

My gosh have we been busy sharing dishes and such with members of our community who are working to reduce waste. It is fantastic how many people have spread the word about our wares and services. Julia Kennerly and Su Slover have been amazing advocates. They have shared the word and stepped up to personally make events they are involved in zero-waste. Julia shared that her first event only created ½ a grocery plastic bag of trash and most of that was brought in from attendees (disposable coffee cups and such.) Wendy shared word about our composting work in the See Off news in the Transylvania Times and Susan Sunflower shared the word about waste reduction at a county commission meeting and also through a letter to the Transylvania Times. Thanks to these zero-waste champions working to make our community a cleaner place.

By |2019-10-07T14:01:23-04:00October 7th, 2019|Categories: Moving to Zero-waste, Sharing Club|

Living Wage Coalition educates us during a zero-waste potluck at WolfBrew Bottle Shop

Elaine Long of the Living Wage Coalition joined us for our October 3rd zero-waste potluck gathering at WolfBrew Bottle shop. We invited her to educate us and help us identify what we need to pay the staff of Transylvania Shares, the sharing cooperative we are creating. A living wage in Transylvania county is $12.60 an hour. According to the Living Wage Certification process, a process that allows members of our community to know who is compensating their employees at a living wage rate, the only requirement to become certified is to pay employees $12.60 an hour and contractors $14 an hour. I learned that those pay rates are calculated not to include the cost of paying child care. Citizens can receive assistance from the government for child care if they fall within a certain income bracket. She did share there was another group in the state who advocates for $15 per hour as a living wage. Members asked how they could find out who was paying a living [...]

By |2019-10-07T16:25:18-04:00October 7th, 2019|Categories: Gatherings, Help a Neighbor, Sharing Club|

Transylvania Shares cooperative now has a board of directors and then some…

Many thanks to Ed for guiding us through the creation of our sharing coop.  Here are Ed's notes from the September 19, 2019 meeting.  How exciting! Hello All, We had another productive meeting last evening at Oskar Blues on the Business Plan for the sharing cooperative. Here is a summary of what we resolved and the action items. Name of the Organization: The name of the organization will be 'Transylvania Shares'. (kudos to John for coming up with this clever name) Transylvania Shares Mission: A Community Resource sharing stuff to reduce consumption. Transylvania Shares' Principles: Zero Waste One Person-One Vote Living Wage for Employees Serve Transylvania Residents No loans for unlawful activities Items for Loan will be Clean and Serviceable Items for Loan will be well maintained Transylvania Shares' Vision: Transylvania Shares will be a self-sustaining entity, both organizationally and financially, as defined by the membership. Incorporators/Initial Board of Directors: The members of the Coop Steering Committee will serve as the incorporators and on the initial Board of [...]

By |2019-09-30T16:35:20-04:00September 30th, 2019|Categories: Gatherings, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Sharing Club|

Sharing club draft mission statment developed

James, Kathleen, Susan, John and I enjoyed a gathering of beer and pizza at the Cedar Mountain Canteen while coming up with a draft mission statement for our sharing cooperative.  We started by each person being asked to write down a few words on scraps of paper that describe things they are passionate about when creating a new business in our community.  We took those scraps of passionate words and arranged them on the table and came up with a draft mission statement: Providing an equitable community resource by sharing stuff with neighbors to reduce consumption. We will continue our business planning on September 18th.  All are welcome.  You can see details here:  https://movingtoconservers.com/event/sharing-coop-steering-committee-meeting/?instance_id=18

By |2019-09-10T14:11:22-04:00September 10th, 2019|Categories: Gatherings, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Sharing Club|

A beautiful way to start the day, swapping sharing stuff with smiles, laughter and joy!

This morning, we had the honor of chauffeuring a dear friend to Asheville for an appointment.  We also had the good fortune of delivering dishes and supplies to Su for a Thursday event.  Julia had some of our supplies from an event she hosted this weekend so she also met us to do an exchange. What a wonderful way to start the day, with hugs, joy, and sharing.  I have read many times how becoming a zero-waste community builds community.  We experience it all the time and I love it! Thanks to those in our community who are a part of a movement to conserving.  What a loving joy it brings.

By |2019-09-10T11:10:17-04:00September 10th, 2019|Categories: Composting, Gatherings, Help a Neighbor, Moving to Zero-waste, Sharing Club, Use Food Scraps|

Sharing Coop Steering Committee Minutes of 22Aug2019

We had a productive meeting this past Thursday evening at Oskar Blues. Sue, Kathleen and Owen, we missed y'all there. I have attached the document that we used as a basis for discussion. (Moving to Conservers Cooperative Discussion) To all: please review the the information below and let me/all know of any corrections: We discussed the 3 questions on our discussion sheet and they are summarized as follows: 1. What is the need that the Cooperative will meet? Summary: We will build community by loaning tools and other items so that members will not have to purchase when needed. 2. What products or services will the Cooperative provide? Summary: Tools, Dishes/Event Items, Sporting Goods and Party Items. 3. Is it feasible? A: Who would be the potential members? How many potential members are there? Summary: A: Membership would be open to anyone in our community. B: We made a conservative estimate that about 200 people would be initial members (there are about that number on the Moving to [...]

By |2019-08-25T20:11:13-04:00August 25th, 2019|Categories: Connecting with nature, Gatherings, Moving to Zero-waste, Sharing Club|

Kathleen Hannigan sent this note to us to share.  Can you help?

My rent is going up again but my wages are not.  So I am putting it out to the community that I need a roommate in my small condo Or a place to live. It can be rustic. Just not the going market value here in Brevard. Thanks! Send us an email at [email protected] if you would like to connect with Kathleen!  Thank you.

By |2019-08-12T15:37:20-04:00August 12th, 2019|Categories: Help a Neighbor, Sharing Club|

It is nice to share. Creating a sharing cooperative in our community.

Love sweet love, It is what the world needs now. Taking in the national news usually leaves me feeling less than hopeful. “They” keep talking about deep divisions in our communities. When I am in our community, I feel love and support and hope. When we gather and share a meal, leave no waste or clean up for our host, as an act of kindness, I feel love and unity. Sharing a meal with a community member is a bonding experience. The food that is presented by those attending is delicious and you can feel the love that went into providing it for our shared dining table. Each person brings their own place setting and it is always a joy for me to see the diversity our community table is set with. It is art, fluid community art. Last week, as someone was setting their place at the table, another member told me that was the dish pattern they grew up with. We both smiled. What a nice [...]

Creating our member-owned sharing cooperative. Join us this Thursday for our planning kick-off?

Our next potluck gathering is this Thursday, August 1st at 6 pm at the Cedar Mountain Canteen. Please bring a covered dish to share and a non-disposable place setting and beverage glass. We will be kicking off the planning stage of our cooperative creation using the book the Sharing Solution (many thanks to Torry for sharing the book). Looking forward to sharing a meal together with everyone and moving our project to the next step!

By |2019-07-29T12:00:55-04:00July 29th, 2019|Categories: Gatherings, Moving to Zero-waste, Sharing Club|
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