Plan your own co-op
Aim: Apply the co-operative idea to you own needs. You will need: Paper and pens Duration: 30 minutes
Co-operatives (or co-ops) are set up by people to fulfil their needs when they aren't being met. The co-operative idea can be applied to all sorts of situations. Think about your own needs, and what you might find a co-operative useful for. What would the purpose be? Who would join it? How much money would each person need to invest? How would choices and decisions be made?
Here are some possible suggestions:
- A sports club - you each invest some money to buy sports equipment which you can take it in turns to borrow
- A book club - you buy books from your pool of money, then sell them when everyone has read them, to buy new books
- A music band - members invest money to buy instruments and promote the band, and share out the profits you earn from performances
- A film club - you pool your money to buy new films, and watch them together
Co-operation can be a good way of saving the world's resources. For example, we do not all need to own a tennis racket, if we only use it once a week. We could share one with 6 other people, and each get to use it once a week. That would mean 6 less tennis rackets need to be made! Think about all the ways you could cut down on your use of resources by sharing things with other people.