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Free Money Day is an annual, global event held since 2011 as a social experiment and to promote sharing and alternative economic ideas. The day is held annually on September 15, the anniversary of the Lehman Brothers’ 2008 filing for bankruptcy. Participants offer their own money to passing strangers at public places, two coins or notes at a time. Recipients are asked to pass on one of the notes or coins to someone else.
Free Money Day is an initiative of the Post Growth Institute (PGI), an international, not-for-profit organization leading the shift to a world where people, companies and nature thrive together within ecological limits. The PGI works collaboratively to develop ideas, programs, events and alliances that promote the equitable circulation of money, power and resources in our local communities and global economy.
Quotes for general use
Free Money Day is a global invitation for people to explore, in a liberating and fun way, what it might be like if our relationships to money were a little different.” –Donnie Maclurcan, Global Organizer, Free Money Day
This event is about much more than money, it is about co-creating the futures we truly desire by building on what we know works: sharing –Donnie Maclurcan, Global Organizer, Free Money Day
It is time we asked ourselves, how much is enough? Do we really need to grow on like this? –Donnie Maclurcan, Global Organizer, Free Money Day
The best kind of street theatre. -Paul Hawken, author of ‘Blessed Unrest’
The Post Growth Institute is igniting a popular challenge to the assumption that all growth is good, and making it possible for the everyday person to talk about what sustainability REALLY means. –Peggy Duvette, CEO, Wiser Earth
Our relationship with money has become dysfunctional as it has become an end in itself. It’s time to rethink money and by the simple act of giving some away, we will start to reconnect with the original purpose of money: to connect ‘human gifts with human needs’. We have lost touch with the gifting aspect of money as our lives have become monetized. Free Money Day reclaims that spirit and shows us a different aspect of money. We can envisage money as an energy of abundance and not one of scarcity. –Raf Manji, Director, Sustento Institute; ex senior proprietary trader, Lehman Brothers.
If you’re questioning the status quo and interested in a more sustainable society, Free Money Day is your chance to get involved. It’s the beginning of a conversation, a thought provoking exciting idea; Free Money Day is also a creative exercise and a lot of fun! –Ravi Prasad, Founder, Friends with Things, Earth Hour Finalist