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From a Sticker to a Bus

You must be wondering how on earth can someone go from a sticker to a bus? What does it even mean? Who’d even trade a bus for a sticker? Well, grab a cup of coffee (you get virtual hugs if it’s our ethical coffee!) and have a seat. Let me tell you a short and compelling story to answer your questions.

This whole idea started when an ordinary guy, Kyle MacDonald, found himself out of a job and in need of a house. He then had the extraordinary idea, based on a children’s game called Bigger and Better, to start trading an object for another that was essentially – bigger and better. He started with a red paperclip and traded it for a pen that looked like a fish. In just a year or in 14 trades, he managed to achieve his goal and did the final trade – a movie role for a farmhouse. Sounds crazy, right? We know! But this is just an example of the power and reach of an online community. We can do so much good together.

So, inspired by Kyle’s amazing initiative, we too decided to begin trading.

Our end goal: an electric bus*. Our starting point: a sticker.

*The electric bus is our dream goal because it’s the most sustainable way of our team to travel to talks, meetings, festivals and to simply connect with other people that would also like to help and be part of this movement.

Kyle himself even gave us some encouragement when we reached out to him for some tips and told us to just start the first trade with somebody nearby!

A 7BP member exchange a limited edition sticker to a pair of new fancy socks.

 The very first trade

 

And so, we did. We met Bianca, the first person we traded with, at an event. She came to us to buy our social beer for Mankind, the first ever 7BP product, for the 10-year-anniversary party of her ethical store @Hemelsehebbedingen in Deventer, Netherlands.

We traded one of our paper stickers ‘from competition to cooperation” for a pair of ethical Komodo socks* that she sells from her shop. (*part of the profit from Komodo goes to the SOS- Sumatran Orangutan Society). 

This first trade reflects a lot on one of our paradigm shifts – from consuming to giving. We’re not buying, we’re exchanging with real people with a genuine desire to help. We’re relying on our community, on word of mouth. We’re not the only ones benefiting from this trade, we got to connect with Bianca, we got to help the orangutans a little and we’re one step closer to our bus.

We’ve only got one question now –

who wants to trade?

A 7BP member exchange a pair of new fancy socks to a coffee grinder.

The second trade

 

Hans to the rescue. 

He heard our cry for help and offered to trade a Douwe Egberts Coffee Grinder in exchange for our orangutan socks, thus saving the day. 

However, our story with him goes a little further back.

Our founder David met Hans on a school trip to China and this would’ve been the beginning of an awesome story if it wasn’t for the fact that Hans hit his head (pretty hard) in the kitchen and got a concussion. Anticlimactic, I know, and because of this, they couldn’t carry on with the trip and go to Tibet. That’s the end of that story.

He still feels bad about it, but we want him to know that all is forgiven. I mean, come on, the guy offered us a beautiful coffee grinder. All is forgotten.

By sheer coincidence or fate, this coffee grinder would have soon been a great use to us, as we’re working on a 7BP Coffee called ‘For Human Beans’, which will soon be out! So, don’t worry, as you know we have bigger plans for this grinder…

This beautiful, functional, coffee grinder is now ready to be adopted by it’s new owner –

who wants to trade?

A 7BP member exchange coffee grinder to a painting of a woman.

The Third Trade

You know when you look across a crowded room, in the middle of a festival and you instantly like a random stranger’s vibe? That was Olly to us. You may call that just a connection but today we’re gonna call it destiny. And you will hopefully forgive the cheesy line because if it wasn’t for Olly, we wouldn’t have our next trade.

Destiny was right. We got to talking and found out he has a brilliant and creative mind, eager to help people. So much so, he started creating a game of self-development. It offers a dynamic time-structure with a playful interface and guides players by meditations, exercises & creative assignments through a process of transformation. We just love meeting people like him and believing in their passionate projects. It’s what makes us a growing community! If anyone would like to know more about his young project, check out his website – https://spiraltime.earth/ (available in dutch).

When Olly heard we were trading, he offered us a captivating painting for the coffee grinder. When we saw it, we just knew we had our next trade done. He found the painting on the street and was so fascinated by it that he took it home. On his bike. All the way from Amsterdam West to East. If you know a little about Amsterdam geography, you’ll be sweating just thinking about that ride, but you’ll also appreciate his effort and love for it.

The painting is in really good condition, a little chipped on the bottom corners but we believe this adds endurance to the beautiful story it already tells.

Whether you are a lover of the arts or just someone who sees potential in it-

Who wants to trade?

Lady for thesis swap

The forth trade

After a little time since our last trade, we weren’t sure where we were going to find our next swap.

Friend of 7 Billion Presidents Lewis, showed interest in our lovely Lady when he saw her on David’s wall over dinner, but didn’t know what to trade in return. We soon found the perfect candidate, namely; his thesis!

Lewis, who has been studying Political Science in Amsterdam, researched the political theory of Turkish-Kurdish activist Abdullah Öcalan. Exploring how he revolutionises the fundamental assumptions Social Contract Theory gives us about politics. 

Öcalan shows us that we don’t have to base our political communities on capitalism, nationalism, sexism, competition and hierarchy. Instead, we can create communities built on cooperation, ecologism, ethnic diversity and gender equality. His ideas have been implemented in Rojava. 

As 7 Billion Presidents is always looking for inspiration on how best to build communities, this was a trade meant to be. (Trade will only be open once we’ve taken good notes from studying the piece… it seems to have some very good points and ideas) 

Thank you Lewis!

Thesis for galactic picture

The fifth trade

David and our board member Sharda drove to Germany to meet Timmy and Jimmy to pick up our newest trade! After a woodland walk and dinner, they traded the thesis for their awesome galactic picture🎇🌌🎆 Having met David at decompression festival two years ago, they wanted to help. The painting was made specifically for 7BP and this trade and we’re super excited that it’s happened!! Thank you Timmy and Jimmy for keeping this fire burning🙌

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