It’s for elderly folks to give young people tokens of gratitude for doing grocery work or helping out around the house. I designed a combination of a retirement home for the elderly, and a co-living space for early- to mid-20-year-olds. Because there are a lot of older people in Japan with a lot of disposable income, but not a lot of social connections, and then the exact inverse for younger people.
Ithaca Hours are a local currency for the town of Ithaca, NY. The value of one Ithaca Hour is tied to the average hourly wage in the city. You can get Ithaca Hours at local banks and there is a directory of local businesses that accept Hours as payment. It is meant to keep wealth circulating within the community among locals and locally-owned businesses.
DisCO stands for "distributed cooperative" which is