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4.	ECOs for ECUs
	The European Union may have yet to introduce its much-debated common currency, the European Currency Unit or ECU, but that hasn't stopped the launch of another parallel currency, the ECO, in the Union. As the name implies the ECO is an 'eco-currency' which gives monetary value to ecological and environmental concerns. But the ECO isn't Europe's general, all-purpose 'green' money – not yet anyway. ECOs are being used in the more specific area of waste management as incentives for responsible disposal and recycling. In Genoa, Italy for example, where there is a problem with bulky waste items like old refrigerators and TVs left stranded on street corners or fly-tipped onto fields, municipal officials are giving ECOs to households that dispose of the items at special drop-off points. In a community of 1.6 million people, the ECO is expected to cut waste-collection costs significantly in the Genoa area. With key EU targets for improved waste management unlikely to be met as planned by the year 2000, the ECO provides a glimmer of hope in an otherwise glum regional situation. People can save their ECO tokens or redeem them at participating retailers like Genoa's local COOP supermarket chain in exchange for 'green' purchases like products made from recycled materials. Large freezers now fetch about 50 ECOs while old computers bring in about 20 ECOs (this translates to about 25 and 10 ECUs, respectively). The ECO system is the brainchild of a Monaco-based consortium, with backing from a Swiss bank. The currency tokens, which come in 12, 20 and 50 ECO denominations, are minted at the Italian state mint and fully convertible internationally. While community currencies like Ithaca dollars in the USA have been around for some time it is good to see such currencies are now being used to achieve environmental goals as well. [Europe's new 'eco-currency']
	Of ECOs and Ecolabels Fortunately, the ECO system is not being invented in isolation from other environmental initiatives in Europe. This is great news because its chances of success are likely to improve by working in tandem with other efforts. A case in point is the EU 'ecolabel' scheme, which rewards an environmental seal of approval to products manufactured to meet minimum agreed standards of environmental excellence. Products bearing the EU ecolabel automatically qualify for ECO redemptions in stores like Italy's COOP supermarkets, giving companies with green products a sales edge on the competition.
	Womanshare - the Upper West Side Story Green currency systems like the ECO are one way of bringing the benefits of exchange to the environment and the community. But exchanging skills doesn't always require money, as a cooperative venture on New York's Upper West Side shows. What began in 1991 as a group of women isolated from the world by shrinking pensions and divorce settlements, trading an hour for an hour of their time, quickly blossomed into a caring and sharing network of support and friendship. Womanshare is now eighty-strong and so popular that other women are being asked to begin their own. For more information, contact Womanshare, 680 West End Avenue, New York, NY 10025 USA.
	'new money' n.the extra community wealth created by local and green currencies and barter systems.
	Lang, Peter. Lets Work: Rebuilding the Local Economy. Bristol, GB: Grover Books, 1994. 179p.
Virtual Ideas	Info on another ECO Lots of 'Community Currencies' info