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      <title>SwapSity : Posts</title>
      <link>http://www.swapsity.ca/</link>
      <description>SwapSity - Recent News</description>
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<item>
   <title>Martin Returns With a Robot Trade</title>
   <link>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/151</link>
   <guid>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/151</guid>
   <pubDate>Sat, Feb 4th 2012, 12:38 PST</pubDate>
   <description><![CDATA[After a break from his barter mission, Martin
Provost is back in action and ready to make his eighth swap.
Congratulations to Martin, who welcomed his daughter Emma into this
world in September and took some time for his family. Now
he&rsquo;s back in barter business and feeling very optimistic
about his quest to
swap his way to a Tesla Roadster.

Martin recently traded a $3,000 credit to build an online store for
two cute, customizable and eco-friendly robots, now up for
trade on Swapsity.

&ldquo;My current item is unique in a sense that you will have full
creative input into the building process of these two Nerdbots. You
will work directly with the owners, Nicholas and Angela, and will
be able to include your own parts and company logo if you
wish,&rdquo; says Martin. &ldquo;Nerdbots are also made from
reclaimed materials&mdash;nerdy and green!&rdquo;

Martin&rsquo;s latest item is perfect for a techie looking to
showcase their inner geek, a company seeking a tech-friendly mascot
or a one-of-a-kind promotional item. Nicholas and Angela, the
husband-and-wife team behind Nerdbots, repurpose junk found at
scrapyards, antique shops and thrift stores to build their unique
robot sculptures. No two Nerdbots are the same&mdash;in fact, each
adoptable robot comes with a name and bio, including a list of
hobbies and interests.

Want to take home a robot of your own? Check out Martin&rsquo;s
latest item
on Swapsity and make him an offer!

]]></description>
</item>
<item>
   <title>Less Stuff = More Happiness</title>
   <link>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/150</link>
   <guid>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/150</guid>
   <pubDate>Sat, Jan 28th 2012, 09:18 PST</pubDate>
   <description><![CDATA[If you were to edit your life, what would you delete? Treehugger
founder, Graham Hill has done just that. Spending years editing
unnecessary items has led him to one simple conclusion: less stuff,
less space = more happiness. Graham lays our three rules for
editing your life:

Edit Ruthlessly: let go of clutter
Think Small: focus on space efficiency
Make Multifunctional: use space and housewares
that have multiple purposes

Check out his inspirational TED talk!








]]></description>
</item>
<item>
   <title>Think Outside the Barter Box!</title>
   <link>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/149</link>
   <guid>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/149</guid>
   <pubDate>Tue, Jan 24th 2012, 09:42 PST</pubDate>
   <description><![CDATA[By Shannon
Simmons
 During my
year living on
barter, I learned that I have many more skills to swap than
just what I do for a living&mdash;it was an important lesson.

When I started bartering, I didn&rsquo;t think outside the box
about what I could offer people. I only offered up my financial advice for
trade. This really limited what I was able to swap for.

Not everyone I wanted to trade with needed financial advice and
when a potential trading partner said they didn&rsquo;t need
advice, I would just give up.

Now, I know better. We all have skills and items to trade far
beyond our 9 &ndash; 5. In fact, we have more skills and items to
trade than we do to sell! It&rsquo;s amazing what we can use as
currency besides our hard earned cash. I&rsquo;ve bartered an extra
Wii console I received on barter for a working vacuum, my partner
trades use of his PlayStation for carpooling from the Go Train. In
addition, I&rsquo;ve learned so many new skills from bartering that
I can now teach people and increase my own offerings. I can teach
people how to churn butter, do
interior painting and bake homemade bread. My trading repertoire is
so much larger since I started bartering.
It&rsquo;s a good idea to offer a variety of
professional and personal skills to maximize your bartering
opportunities.
First off, think of anything in your house that you would
normally sell on Craigslist&mdash;you can barter that.&nbsp; Also,
you can barter the use of items in your house that you would never
be able to sell. For example, you can barter the use your tent for
a weekend to someone who needs one but doesn&rsquo;t want to spend
the money to buy it new. Or, you can drive your pick-up truck and
help someone de-junk their house. You&rsquo;d never be able to sell
these online, but with barter, everyday items become forms of
currency.
Also, your hobbies and skills can easily be transformed into
barter bucks!&nbsp; You may not sell your savvy IT repairs or your
sewing skills as a business but with barter you can swap them in
exchange for other items and skills you need!
 Finding
items and skills to trade outside of your own profession is a real
asset. Keep an open mind and don&rsquo;t give up too easily.
You&rsquo;ve got skills to get what you really need and save your
cash!

TIP: Check out Swapsity&rsquo;s Swap Wizard to get
started.

]]></description>
</item>
<item>
   <title>George Carlin on "Stuff"</title>
   <link>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/148</link>
   <guid>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/148</guid>
   <pubDate>Sun, Jan 22nd 2012, 07:59 PST</pubDate>
   <description><![CDATA[Do we just have too much stuff? Watch George Carlin, a comic
genius, talk about the importance of "Stuff" in our lives.


]]></description>
</item>
<item>
   <title>12 Reasons to Swap More in 2012</title>
   <link>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/147</link>
   <guid>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/147</guid>
   <pubDate>Mon, Jan 9th 2012, 10:44 PST</pubDate>
   <description><![CDATA[

By Marta Nowinska
Everybody loves a good swap! It benefits you, the community and
the planet. Items, skills, services, knowledge and time are all
barter-worthy. Here are 12 reasons to swap more in 2012:

# 1 It makes you realize that you&rsquo;re
richer than you think! You have a wealth of knowledge,
skills and pre-loved stuff that can be used as currency in a
swapping community. It can afford you things you may not otherwise
have a budget for, like art, massages or a cottage retreat.

# 2 It's financially smart to
barter! You keep the same standard of living and savings even with
the rising costs of living. Aim to swap for 5% of your income each
month. The average Canadian is a whopping $26,000 in debt. Swapping
leaves more money in your pockets and doesn&rsquo;t max out your
credit card. We've seen swappers save up to $4,000 by bartering
kitchen renovations for a car or a cottage.

# 3 We currently consume 1.5 planets worth
of resources when we only have one. Passing on your
pre-loved items extends the life cycle of products and keeps useful
items in circulation.

# 4 99% of all those things we buy are not in use
after 6 months. By swapping what you no longer need, you
get to de-clutter your space and free yourself of
things you never use. Knowing that the other person will make
better use of our pre-loved items is also rewarding.

#5 Swapping strengthens bonds and
reinvigorates community spirit. It gives any community&mdash;office
colleagues, neighbours, friends&mdash;a way to share resources and
help each other out.

#6 Swapping makes you smile.
It&rsquo;s a lot of fun to go treasure hunting at a swap event or to complete a swap
transaction with&nbsp;a fellow swapper. It just makes you want to
swap more!
#7
It opens you up to new experiences and lets you
learn new things without spending a dime. Would you have taken that
scuba diving lesson if someone didn&rsquo;t barter you for it?

#8 Swapping creates value for both
participants as each swapper receives something they want
and gives up something they don&rsquo;t need. It&rsquo;s a win-win
situation!

#9 Swapping has a human element
that&rsquo;s often lacking in customer-to-clerk store transactions.
It&rsquo;s a community of people eager to help each other out. You
meet new people when swapping and build valuable skill-swapping
relationships with them.
#10
Swapping is a fun and easy way for parents to instill green
habits in kids. Children will discover first hand just how
much fun recycling can be by attending a swap meet or by swapping their
outgrown stuff online with the help of their parents.

#11 You&rsquo;re part of the Collaborative
Consumption movement&mdash;a socio-economic movement
that has the power to build community, engagement in sustainable
living and a vibrant peer-to-peer sharing economy.

#12 Swapping is just plain
awesome! Just ask our swappers and
start swapping
to see for yourself.

Tell us, what makes you wanna swap?

]]></description>
</item>
<item>
   <title>Best Swapsity Moments of 2011</title>
   <link>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/146</link>
   <guid>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/146</guid>
   <pubDate>Sat, Dec 31st 2011, 11:50 PST</pubDate>
   <description><![CDATA[By Marta Nowinska


Marta Nowinska
Swapsity Founder


As the year draws to a close, I would like to take this
opportunity to thank all of our members, supporters and the entire
Swapsity team, for making 2011 a year to remember!
It&rsquo;s truly been a phenomenal and action-packed year for
Swapsity. Let&rsquo;s look back at our most memorable moments of
2011.

&nbsp;
#1 Witnessing the
"Aha!" Swap Moments

"Really? I can use yoga lessons, carpools and coaching as
currency?" Absolutely!

Being so used to using cash and credit cards, many of us forget
about alternatives, such as barter. We love seeing faces light up when people suddenly "get
it" about swapping. They experience the value of
participating in the sharing economy first-hand by getting a stack
of &lsquo;new&rsquo; DVDs at our events, listening to our guest
speakers or swapping online.

Our swappers are quickly learning that their things, talents and
time act as non-monetary currency. Hearing swappers say:
"this is SUCH a good
idea!" and "we really need this" brings a big smile
to our faces.
&nbsp;
#2 Getting People to
Swap

From Yonge-Dundas Square to the University of Toronto campus, we
got Canadians swapping!


Online and offline, our swappers have made thousands of swaps
through our community. They have bartered for iPods, Mac notebooks,
guitars, massages, business consults, basket weaving lessons,
jewellery repair, media, fashion, art and much more. Check out our
featured swap stories, if you happened to have missed
them.
&nbsp;
#3 Knowing That We're
Making a Difference
Our 2011 calendar was abuzz with swap meets and educational
events. We gathered the stats to see the social, economic and
environmental impact of these events:&nbsp;

$45,000+ in swapper
savings
6,000+ items
recycled
4,000+
swaps
2,000+ items
donated

Note: The statistics reflect the combined efforts of our
media and clothing swaps in 2011

Fantastic job!

&nbsp;
Through the Swapsity website, swap meets and
educational events, we seek to promote a culture of
swapping, sharing and reusing instead of always buying new stuff
and maxing out credit cards. We see swapping as a way to empower
Canadians on environmental, financial and social levels while
helping build more connected communities and a greener planet.
&nbsp;
#4 Being a Part of the
Live Green Toronto Festival
This summer, we teamed up with the Toronto Environment Office
for our biggest and most
successful swap event yet. Not only was the event
100% free, it was also the highlight of the festival. Thanks to the
help of Live Green Toronto and our fabulous volunteers, swappers
saved $18,000 during the nine hour swap marathon. A total of 3,300
items were recycled that day, 2,350 of which were swapped and the
rest were donated to charity.

Our cute and cuddly mascot, the Swaptopus, got a kick out of the
media swap, mingling and snapping photos with enthusiastic
visitors. It was a day to remember!

&nbsp;
#5 Hosting Buy Nothing,
Swap Something Day
To open minds and eyes to the benefits of barter, we hosted the
wildly successful and well-attended Buy
Nothing, Swap Something Day on November 25th.

The inaugural event included a screening of the documentary,
"Living Without Money", an inspirational talk by the
Barter Babe and a group discussion on the emergence of
the sharing economy. Key takeaway from the event? Get out and barter,
folks!


# 6 Seeing Happy
Swappers
Nothing makes us happier than seeing satisfied swappers! Head
over to our swap stories to read about some happy swappers
like Lisa, Gerry or Tori. Bella, who recently scored a free laptop
through Swapsity, is yet another fulfilled swapper!

Our swap events also didn&rsquo;t disappoint. Many lit up faces
and enthusiastic responses such as &ldquo;Great energy! Looking forward to the next
swap!&rdquo; or &ldquo;This is so awesome!&rdquo; made our
day.


What
can we say? Happy swappers + awesome swaps = warm
and fuzzy feeling!
&nbsp;
#7 Working with some
Awesome Volunteers

This year we hosted six big swap events and four educational
events, all of which were volunteer-run and free for Torontonians.
A heartfelt thank you to all our amazingly dedicated and
enthusiastic
volunteers who gave up their time to help make
everything run smoothly and successfully. You rock!
&nbsp;
#8 Collaborating With
Fantastic People

In 2011, we have had the opportunity to collaborate with many
amazing folks and like-minded organizations such
as:

Toronto Environment Office, for Live Green Toronto
Festival
U of T&rsquo;s ASSU in an effort to get University of
Toronto swapping
Pedestrian Sunday team for three events in Kensington
Market
The Barter Babe who's column launched this fall on Swapsity
Word11 who with our help ran a more sustainable and
affordable festival
Martin Provost and his swap-to-the-top adventure
Jay Peachy and his home project
Fashion Takes Action for a Clothing Swap, the
highlight at Shop Sustainable

It's been a pleasure collaborating with you and we look forward
working with you and many more fantastic people in 2012.

&nbsp;
#9 Seeing the Media
Share Swapsity

We were spotted in over 30
media mentions this year, including those by CTV,
Yahoo News, MSN Money, Shareable, Torontoist, Moneyville, The Grid,
MoneySense and many more. They brought attention to Swapsity
and its mission to make swapping accessible to Canadians and raised
awareness of the benefits of barter. The media is quickly noticing
the growing popularity and importance of the swapping economy and
is eager to share it with their readers. Keep &lsquo;em
comin&rsquo;!
&nbsp;

&nbsp;
#10 The Promise of a
Bright Future

We are on a mission to get
Canada swapping! Through our online swapping
platform and swap events, we will continue to play a leading role
in engaging Canadians in Collaborative Consumption in 2012.
&nbsp;
The Collaborative consumption movement&mdash;rapid growth
of swapping, swapping, sharing and gifting&mdash;is quickly
gathering momentum and revolutionizing the way people get things.
According to Time Magazine, Collaborative Consumption is one of
&ldquo;10 Ideas That Will Change the World&rdquo;. We have lots of
exciting things planned for 2012. Stay tuned!
&nbsp;
What were your favourite Swapsity moments? Leave a comment to let
us know.
Wishing you all the best in 2012 and see you next year!

]]></description>
</item>
<item>
   <title>Changing Money Habits</title>
   <link>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/145</link>
   <guid>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/145</guid>
   <pubDate>Fri, Dec 30th 2011, 11:57 PST</pubDate>
   <description><![CDATA[By Shannon Simmons
Save more. Spend less. Barter
often. These are great financial goals for the New Year, but
there&rsquo;s a big problem &ndash; these goals are vague, and
vague goals can be overwhelming.

Many of us resolve to get our finances in order without any idea of
what we will do to accomplish this.

The New Year is a great time to set goals but before you set them,
make sure you have a plan.

Regardless of your financial circumstance, there are a few good
tricks to help with 2012 goal setting.

1. Take a hard look at your current financial situation
&ndash; and be honest
&nbsp;
Make an appointment with a financial advisor or do a complete
budget for yourself to assess your spending and saving over the
last year.
&nbsp;
Notice the places where you think you could improve your spending
or saving habits.
&nbsp;
2. Make Small, Attainable Goals
&nbsp;
Start with small and specific goals to help stay motivated along
the way.
For example:
&nbsp;
Pack lunch at least twice a week.
Don&rsquo;t buy a monthly transit for four months.
Increase automatic savings by $50.
Barter for two haircuts this year.
&nbsp;
Small goals will improve your confidence in fulfilling them.
&nbsp;
3. Be Realistic
&nbsp;
If you&rsquo;re making small, attainable goals, you can&rsquo;t
expect to have millions of dollars by the end of 2012.
Don&rsquo;t set yourself up for failure by setting impractical time
horizons.
&nbsp;
4. Check in Often
&nbsp;
When setting goals, we often don&rsquo;t stop to check in and
acknowledge our progress. By acknowledging how far we&rsquo;ve
come, we remind ourselves that it is possible to make positive
changes in our financial situation and we can stay motivated to
keep up the good work.
&nbsp;
By making attainable goals, you raise your confidence and can stay
motivated to get yourself back into financial shape in 2012.

]]></description>
</item>
<item>
   <title>Season's Greetings</title>
   <link>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/144</link>
   <guid>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/144</guid>
   <pubDate>Tue, Dec 20th 2011, 08:44 PST</pubDate>
   <description><![CDATA[
Heartfelt wishes for a wonderful holiday season and a very happy
New Year from all of us at Swapsity. We hope your holidays are full
of peace and joy. Season's Greetings to everyone!

]]></description>
</item>
<item>
   <title>Five Frugal Living Tips</title>
   <link>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/142</link>
   <guid>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/142</guid>
   <pubDate>Tue, Dec 13th 2011, 10:42 PST</pubDate>
   <description><![CDATA[By Meka Jones
&nbsp;
 So, it&rsquo;s mid-December
now, smack in the middle of the year&rsquo;s peak buying season. If
you&rsquo;re not in the shopping spirit, or even if you&rsquo;re
suffering from an excess of spending, these tips are for you.
&nbsp;
This year I read all the books in the Toronto Public Library (plus
some that aren&rsquo;t) on saving money and frugal living. I
learned many things.
&nbsp;
First off, I learned that some folks practice frugal living by
doing things that aren&rsquo;t realistic or possible for most of
us, like collecting junk mail to roll into fire logs and burn them
in their woodstove or buying expired food because it&rsquo;s
cheaper.
&nbsp;
 I also learned that a realistic
frugal lifestyle requires forethought and planning. In fact, if
you&rsquo;re experiencing a debt problem right now, chances are
good that you haven&rsquo;t been using enough of the long-term
planning&mdash;but more on that later. Here are five of the best
actually useful frugal living tips I encountered in my research.
And yes, you can start doing them right now.
&nbsp;
# 1: Drinks:
Make your own coffee instead of buying it by the cup. Use frozen
juices instead of juice cartons. Better yet, save all flavoured
drinks for special occasions and just drink water. What helps:
having sufficient good-quality water bottles to bring water along
during the day and making this into a routine (same goes for coffee
mugs).
&nbsp;
# 2 Stuff:
Maintain everything. Even little things last longer if you care for
them. Think:

Cleaning &amp; polishing your shoes (and waterproofing them, if
they&rsquo;re for wet/ snowy seasons);
Cleaning out small appliances (toaster, microwave,
stovetop);
Oiling, sharpening and properly storing items that rust like
hand or lawn tools, cast-iron cookware, and kitchen knives;
Mending clothes.

If you don&rsquo;t know how to do this kind of maintenance (and
believe me, my mom didn&rsquo;t teach me, either), there are a
wealth of good instructional videos on the internet. If
you&rsquo;re not an internet person, ask for help at your local
library. Tell them I sent you.
&nbsp;
# 3 Shopping:
If you&rsquo;re an impulse shopper, break the cycle! This is an
addiction, and just like with cigarette smoking, you only need to
break one part of the pattern to disrupt the whole cycle. For me,
the easiest part to remove is actually going to the store&mdash;I
just don&rsquo;t! Other things that help: not carrying money or
cards, working from a list, and having enough to eat and drink
before shopping for food.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
# 4 Laundry:
There are several degrees of change available. Try as many as you
can!




Ditch the expensive liquid soaps. Powder works just as well,
and you can make your own for VERY little cost. Check out

DavidSuzuki.org for recipes;
Skip the dryer: hang outside during warm months, and inside
during winter months (also helps humidify the air so you
don&rsquo;t have to buy/use a humidifier); &nbsp; &nbsp;

A great choice for apartment dwellers: an over-the-door drying
rack. By the way, clothes dryers are VERY hard on your clothes.
Hang drying will extend their lifetime considerably.


Only wash what&rsquo;s actually dirty;
Cold water washes. Even if it&rsquo;s not your electricity
bill, you&rsquo;re saving the earth.



&nbsp;
 #5 Living space: Keep
your home beautiful. Sometimes people engage in unhealthy habits
(financial and otherwise) because they feel something is wrong or
missing from their life. If your living space is clean and
nurturing, you may feel less of an urge to throw money at it (or
yourself). I&rsquo;m just sayin&rsquo;. Offer things you no longer
use or love for barter here on Swapsity!

]]></description>
</item>
<item>
   <title>Swapsity's Clothing Swap the Highlight at Shop Sustainable</title>
   <link>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/141</link>
   <guid>http://www.swapsity.ca//posts/view/141</guid>
   <pubDate>Thu, Dec 8th 2011, 08:50 PST</pubDate>
   <description><![CDATA[ Grey skies and a near-constant
downpour couldn't dampen the excitement of fashion-savvy swappers
at Swapsity&rsquo;s high-end Clothing Swap, a
highlight at 
Shop Sustainable on November 29.

Armed with bags of pre-loved clothes, shoes and accessories,
participants flocked to the fashion swap, ready to check in and
check out what the event had to offer. It wasn't long after setting
up and stocking the Swap Zone with hundreds of early drop-off items
that participants poured in. The Swap Zone had a distinctive
boutique feel to it with organized racks of fabulous fashions and
tables lined with amazing items.

The evening was a flurry of fashionable finds and beaming faces.
Participants expertly combed through the collection of more than
1,100 items
and were rewarded with clothes and accessories that suited both
their wardrobes and frames. The Swap Zone&rsquo;s high-energy
traffic didn&rsquo;t slow down until just minutes before the end of
the event. When the night was over, 728 items had been swapped and 372 were
donated to Goodwill for a total savings of $19,110!

Fashion-loving swappers were thrilled with the event, enjoying
the chance to pass along pre-loved items, clear out clothes that no
longer fit, cut down on clutter, curb consumption, have fun and
save money.


For some, our event at Shop Sustainable was a first. Jennifer
mentioned she doesn&rsquo;t like wasting stuff and had been
secretly hoping for an event like ours. She brought 23 beautiful
items that had gone neglected in her closet and, in return, picked
up 22 she was sure to get use out of. Others, like Sam, had swapped
clothes with friends but had never been to a hosted event. It was
no surprise to see the great time people were having and hear the
many hopes of future swap events just like this one.

Shop Sustainable is an event held by Fashion Takes Action, Canada's
only non-profit organization that focuses on sustainability in the
fashion industry.

A heartfelt 'thank you' to Fashion Takes Action for coordinating
clothing drop offs and organizing Shop Sustainable, the tireless
volunteers and participants who helped make this event one to
remember!

If you missed this swap event be sure to join us
next year for more swapping fun.

]]></description>
</item>
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