I Am an Urban Homesteader

I wasn't sure I was going to engage with this fracas, but in the end I feel it's necessary.  The Dervaes family of Pasadena, California have apparently trademarked the terms Urban Homestead and Urban Homesteading.  They dress up this action as an attempt to protect these terms from use by evil corporations. And yet it is the Dervaeses themselves who are now sending what are in effect cease and desist letters to public libraries, bloggers, and other organizations who have used these terms, even without attempting to profit from them.  They have privatized part of the commons and are now wasting no time trying to assert their exclusive legal rights.  This despite the fact that there are previously published books, magazines, public service organizations and innumerable blogs that use exactly these words in their titles.  At least one of them has already had their page shut down thanks to the Dervaeses.

There are many things I find despicable about these actions of the Dervaes family.  Their behavior is exactly what one would expect from an evil corporation.  Monsanto, anyone?  It would be one thing to trademark these generic terms and then turn them over to the Creative Commons for all non-evil uses.  That is not what they are doing.  It would be one thing to take these actions and then actively listen to those people who have formerly supported and admired their work.  That is not what they have done.  Instead they have, one by one, shut down their social media pages and several of the eight websites they maintain.  Recent posts on their main blog (I'm not going to link it here.) have closed comments.  They didn't like what they were hearing; it didn't support their worldview.  So they refuse to listen.  This is a family that has solicited donations, boldly and repeatedly, for years.  And yet this family of four able-bodied adults somehow manages to find the spare time to trawl the internet looking for people who have "infringed" on their newly acquired legal rights.  It sickens me to think of all the monetary donations given in goodwill that are now paying for the Dervaeses to act like a corporate goon squad. Wise people recognize when they have made mistakes, admit them, and correct them.  That is not the path the Dervaeses are pursuing.

I was initially only profoundly disappointed with the Dervaeses.  Now I'm angry.  I have in the past mentioned and linked to the Dervaes family here on my own blog.  I can assure you that I will never do so again.  I have removed the links that I was able to find.  The food production they have managed to accomplish on a tiny amount of land is truly impressive, and by rights it should stand as a shining example of what can be done if one is determined to produce food at home.  But this high-handedness over concepts they did not originate and have no moral claim to is unacceptable.  They are doing damage to a cause and a way of life that should never be the property of one person, or one family.  We need as many people as possible growing food in backyards large and small.  That the terms "urban homestead" and "urban homesteading" are now legally restricted does no service to that cause, and may indeed mean that fewer people pursue the goal of home food production.  That is wrong, whatever the law may say about it.

I'm not on Facebook, but there's a group making an effort to reclaim the term urban homesteading.  Check it out if you use Facebook.  If you've ever linked to, publicly praised, or financially supported the Dervaes family, I would urge you to weigh in on this matter, either on your own blog, or by sending a message to the Dervaeses.  I think it pays to be civil, no matter how much you may disagree with someone, so I recommend you keep it polite.  Rudeness and name-calling only make it that much easier for people who disagree with you to dismiss what you say out of hand.

Heating Oil Vent

I live in the relatively small part of the US where most homes are heated with oil. This makes the relevance of the whole peak oil situation quite obvious to us. When the price of a barrel of oil fluctuates, we're very aware of it. Other people might be able to heat with sustainable electricity, but we're looking down a dead-end street as far as our heating system is concerned. With the rather severe winter weather we've been having lately, we're down to a quarter tank of heating oil. Which means it's time to order a refill of our 275-gallon capacity tank. It's going to cost us about $440 if we pay cash. We spent almost that much for a smaller amount back in October when oil began its descent from the painfully high summertime prices.

This really ticks me off. Despite my frugality streak, it's not so much the expense that gets to me. We can handle the cost, at least for now - and I am very mindful that we're fortunate to be in such a position. It's just a mounting feeling of helplessness and dependence that unnerves me and then makes me angry. You see, we pull out all the stops to conserve our heating oil and try to minimize our carbon footprint in an admittedly carbon-heavy set up. We heat only two rooms of our home, and the daytime thermostat setting is never above 64 F (less than 18 C). Overnight it gets set down to 52 F (~11 C). I wear multiple layers, fingerless gloves, and a fleece hat indoors all winter long. I play with the shades to let sunlight in when it's available, and close them when there's none to be had. We close off little used rooms and on some days rely on several warm cups of tea to feel comfortable. Living this way looks extreme to many people. We've gotten used to it and don't mind. I feel we're doing what we can and should be doing to save money and conserve resources. And yet, with the days and nights of sub-freezing temperatures we've had this month, we've gone through more than 50 gallons of heating oil in three weeks.

Just at the beginning of this month, Julie over at Towards Sustainability posted an update on her Riot for Austerity efforts for this year. This was the first article that made me really stop and think about what it would mean for us to consume only our fair share of the earth's remaining resources. Turns out if we did that, we'd have to find a way to heat with just 75 gallons of heating oil per year. That didn't seem even remotely possible, but it prodded me to at least record the level of our oil tank on January 5th. And now, three weeks later, I see that even with all our "extreme" efforts we've already blown through more than two thirds of our annual fair share of heating oil. We're really trying here, and we're not even coming close.

I don't know what we're going to do about this. But my anger is really motivating me at the moment to look into alternatives - again. I've looked at this before for our home, and there aren't many viable options. We don't have the space for a geothermal system. Zoning codes make an outdoor wood furnace highly impractical. We're not in a great part of the country for solar, and topography is against us for wind power. Ugh! It's so frustrating to have no good options.