Some of you may have heard of the Venus Project, by Jacque Fresco. He had the great vision of a resource based economy, built around large modern eutopic cities. That vision always peaked my interest, but I can always remember feeling a little uneasy about the size and scope of these grand super modern cities. I always asked, how can something this big and this different ever get going?! What strikes me now is that the Venus Project was still based around a model of centralisation, and those who lived in a Venus City would be vulnerable to the huge systems that ran them.

One thing i really like about ecoVillages is that we are ultra-decentralised, and do our best to make sure every aspect of life is as close to home as possible, and under your control! That definitely includes water, power and fruits and vegetables, but the scope is also wider than that. Ultra-ethical commerce also means ultra-sustainable, efficient and decentralized! I have been giving some thought to the model of trade that ecoVIllage would work by. What the value and priorities would be for how we make and sell products, services, events etc. So I have come up with what I will call the ladder of trade, and is basically a list of values in order of importance. See what you think!

The ecoVillages Ladder of Trade

1. Do everything Locally whenever possible.
This encompasses both the production and sourcing of materials, to how and where we sell our products and services. Whenever possible we would sell to people who are visiting or attending an event at the ecoVillage itself. This is one reason why our Healing Dance Festival Event is such a good avenue for our commerce. We could sell most if not all of our products and services at each event without having to even go anywhere!

2. Trade first, tokens second, fiat last!
We aim to forge and create systems of trade with our neighbouring communities in Portugal. One very important task for us will be to identify as many ecoVillage type communities within a few hundred Km's and to create trade links with them all. When we have food or other products to sell, we can first look to trading and exchanging with our sister communities. We will also encourage our neighbours to buy and use a dedicated ecoVillage coin (probably pegged to something like gold) when trade is not possible. Using a pegged coin is relatively safe, and pegging to gold would also make it a very interesting store of value!

3.Shops and Online
We will also trade on line as well as in local shops, but only when the previous options have been exhausted. Shipping, transport etc are a huge burden on our climate and air quality, and are the hardest to manage. Shops also inflate prices too much, and have such high overheads and challenges that we would rather avoid any commerce with the centralised systems where possible.

4. Sourcing Ethically.
Everything we use to make or produce things will not only be local, but also ethically sourced all the way down the chain. That means ingredients or materials used to make a final product, and of course the labour that was use to make them. Anything coming from International countries like China, India, etc would be a red flag unless due diligence was done, and there would have to be a very good reason for transporting materials so far.

5. No Fixed Price!
ecoVillages is founded on the principles of natural giving and collaboration, as well as many facets of Anarchy. We each have different needs and lives, and some people can afford more than others. Keeping events and services open to all is very important to having good relationships with our neighbours and friends, as well as to be able to reach out to the masses. The way I see it working, for example at an event, people would be asked how much they would like to donate for the weekend. They would most likely donate in Fiat, which is fine.. we would convert most of that to ecoVIllage coin quickly enough! If they are not sure how much to donate we tell them what most people donate, and then explain that those with more to give tend to give more, and those who really don't have money can give less. It is a person to person exchange, there are no fixed rules.. we should all have what we need and be flexible! Often times the most interesting and talented people have very little money!

So when you are investing in ecoVillage coin you are also supporting a new way of doing business. You are supporting decentralised commerce, with all the check-boxes ticked for ethics, environmental, social issues and fair trade! It will be a great joy to be able to get most of what we need just by trading what we have in excess and receiving what others give us with natural giving. Having our own stable coin is also a very important part of working in a new paradigm, and the creation of our pegged coin is something that will happen as soon as we have begun the build process.

We are excited to bring the Healing Dance Festival to Portugal, we hope in August 2020, and look forward to sharing this new paradigm with you all, in abundance and a state of natural giving and co-creation. I will update you as soon as have more news on that!

Thank you to our Investors!

I would like to give a huge thanks to everyone who has invested in ecoVillage coin so far! We have had both large and small investments, and have sold a total of 1,348 ecoVillage coins with an order for 600 more coins today. This means that we have now sold around 20% of our first cap, at $0.60 per coin. Once we sell the first 10,000 ecoVillage coins the price per coin will rise to around $0.80 per coin, which marks a gain of around 25% to early investors. We expect most of you to keep holding ecoVillage coin until we buy back at even higher prices, with profits from the Healing Dance Festival, and eventually our ecoVillage community as well. Our ideal investors are here for the longer term of 1-3 years, with higher gains expected once we start food production and other commercial activities.

The initial coin offering that is happening right now is only being publicised to you on Steem. Once the ecoVillage company is formalised and we have the legal work completed we will be opening up investments to private sources, and when that happens we expect the price of ecoVillage coin to rise further. Now is the best time to invest even a small amount in ecoVillage coin because you will not only make the greatest returns, but will also be supporting and investing in a business model that has a high chance of success and backed by a very strong team of dedicated and altruistic individuals.

NOTE: The opinions and ideas in this post are my own. They may not always reflect the opinions of others in the ecoVillage team. These posts are my soundboard, and how i share what I am thinking. If anyone has any feedback, especially you @orlev, please feel free to share in the comments or on the community network.

HOW TO SUPPORT THE ECO VILLAGE PROJECT
Disrupting the "Cost of Living" Industry

MORE INFORMATION ON THE VISION
https://steempeak.com/ecotrain/@eco-alex/steem-ecovillage-update-land-aquired-in-portugal-website-launch-ecovillage-token-is-live

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Easiest Way To Buy ecoVillage Coin

If you understand the need and urgency of this project, please buy ecoVillage coin today as a show of support! The easiest way to buy is to simply send me (@eco-alex) any amount of Steem and I will send you back the equivalent number of ecoVillage coins straight to your wallet! No trading necessary, they will just appear in your wallet ready to HODL! Please only send whole numbers of Steem with a minimum of 5 Steem. Current price is set to $0.60 per token until 10,000 Tokens are sold.

SEND ANY AMOUNT OF STEEM TO @ECO-ALEX WITH THE MEMO:
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