There are a handful of people (less than 1% of the population) who believe that nothing less than radical lifestyle change is required to tackle climate change. One example of this in the UK is Tinker's Bubble in Somerset.
Tinker's Bubble is a small woodland community which uses environmentally sound methods of working the land without fossil fuels. They manage about 28 acres of woodland using two-person saws, horses, and a steam-powered sawmill (which is really quite something!)
They grow most of their own food using permaculture (no-dig) principles. Their pastures, orchards, and gardens are organically certified, and they sell some produce for income at local farmers markets.
The Bubblers make their monetary incomes mainly through selling apple products (three varieties of apple juice), forestry products, courses and other micro-enterprises. In their own words, they are money poor but otherwise rich.
They have their own natural spring water, compost toilets and burn wood for cooking, heating, and for hot water, relying on off-grid solar powered 12v electricity,
Life at Tinker’s Bubble is very basic (even by hard-line eco-standards) – for example most people wash their clothes by hand and life is lived mostly outdoors, and you can expect to be cold in the winter.
What I like about Tinker’s Bubble
It’s possibly the only low-impact low-tech natural self-build settlement which has been granted planning permission (albeit temporary) in England, so it shows that with persistence this can be done.
They've supported themselves since the mid 1990s, so it's durable!
Apple harvesting for juice is one of the main industries at The Bubble
It is certainly one of the most low-impact settlements in the UK, and it seems to have a very clear focus against fossil fuels. This video demonstrates this.
At least some of the residents are carbon negative – I’ve heard that Pedro has made the case that he shouldn’t have to pay tax on the basis that to do so compromises his right to live a radically sustainable lifestyle, given that to pay tax is to pay the government to pollute more than he does!
It certainly ticks the diversity box! This is real ‘eco-peasant’ living, very different to mainstream lifestyles in the U.K.
Reservations about Tinkers’ Bubble…
It’s possible to criticise the Bubble as being a in a ‘Bubble’ – they are extreme and don’t seem willing to compromise compared to many other eco-settlements. Their commitment to zero fossil fuels may be a step too far for many people and put them off visiting or even taking them seriously. To my mind it would make sense to allow petrol chain saws, for example, on the basis that it’s a tiny amount of fossil fuel being used, for a significant time gain in managing woodland. I’d make a similar argument with maybe using a car to get transport produce rather than horses
.I’ve long thought that a willingness to compromise wins more hearts and minds than being hard-line – 90% fossil fuel free is going to be a lot more appealing and a lot easier than 100% fossil-fuel free!
Their commitment to manual labour and no fossil fuels means that maintaining the site and making a living is a very labour-intensive process, time that could maybe be better spent promoting and campaigning for changes to the planning laws, helping others transition to this lifestyle, educating about alternatives, in the same vein as Lammas does.
I’ve heard more than one account that this is not a fun place to volunteer at – you’re not going to be getting a four-hour light working day of varied activities, you’re more likely to be weeding for 6-8 hours. From what I’ve heard Tinkers Bubble is NOT for the faint hearted!
Finally, I’m not sure how generalisable this is as a model - it’s not exactly high-density living. The latest stats on Diggers and Dreamers show 5 adults living on 28 acres (NB not sure how up to date this is!) which just isn’t realistic for the UK. Having said that, given that there’s no significant demand to live like this anyway, this may be something of a moot criticism!
Conclusions
It’s definitely different, very interesting, partially inspiring, and utterly impractical way to live: I love it, but I wouldn’t want to live it! i'm more of a Lammas kind of guy personally.
If yer interested Tinker’s Bubble is currently open to new residents.
Sources/ find out more
In addition to the links above, there's a few personal blogs written by people who have visited - for example:
http://csharpd.github.io/extraordinaries/interviews/naomi-glass/
https://northdevonpermaculture.com/2013/05/19/tinkers-bubble-a-visit/
Images 1 and 2 - http://www.tinkersbubble.org/
Image 2- http://csharpd.github.io/extraordinaries/interviews/naomi-glass/
So interesting to see more and more of these communities growing across the world! I agree with your thought that although a great prospect, I couldn’t do it for an extended period of time.
Posted using Partiko iOS
I have to respect their commitment and I love the beautiful dwellings, but living there isn't for me either!
Posted using Partiko Android
In our country there are also such settlements. We call them "Old Believers." In recent years, more and more people are interested in healthy lifestyle, environmentally friendly ways of managing, surviving in extreme conditions, the ability to live in harmony with nature, spiritual improvement.
I like that - 'old believers', it's got a nice ring to it!
I feel that these types of folk are some of the smartest types of humans out there. Self-dependence and living with nature are high forms of intelligence to me. Technology doesn't always mean better. Thanks for the introduction to this community.
Okay that was a long coffee, but after a re-read, I don't know why I thought there was a video.... I checked out your article on Lammas too.
So, I have so much to say on this. First would be, I'm very glad you are exploring this and taking it with honest reflection. So many conversations in the 'sustainability' space are made with certain assumptions or ignoring others. Most of what get's ignored is immense heaps of work (fixing unemployment anyone?)
I have so many thoughts from my six years 'becoming' a subsistence farmer in Colombia, about how we can truly approach sustainability. I have started several chapters already. I look forward to discussing many of these points with you in the future.
At this point, I think it will be sufficient to say that a range of solutions being implemented is promising, but likely no 'extreme' will be extremely widespread without extreme conditions. Choosing not to use fossil fuels is fine, but while they are available it is unlikely to be a mainstream choice, and personally I think there are probably more important things to focus on.
I love this type of content from you, and it will always receive my upvote if I see it!
Hey thanks for the comment - I did link to a YouTube video where some of the Bubblers discuss their fossil free approach - a guy called Pedro is the most interesting.
Ironically I abandoned the idea of self building my own house and growing my own food because it's just cheaper to buy a regular house here in the UK.. one can still do one's bit however!
Where fossil fuels are concerned it might actually be more rational to use them to build high tech passive 1000 year homes rather than hobbit houses? Not sure, it's something I've yet to explore.
This is indeed interesting, and you put two sides of the coin across very well Carl.
I've gotta say one thing about them though, they're commited to the ethos to which they prescribe, much more so than many people. It is quite extreme though. While I was reading the end section I kept thinking, why aren't they using more renewable energy sources to make life easier. Ditch all fossil fuels I'm on board with, but living in the cold in winter seems a bit mad if it's possible to stock pile energy. Which is doable these days. if you produce excess solar/wind/hydro during one part of the year, you can feed it into the national Grid then claim it back when needed. I'm not sure of the details about this but I know such a thing is possible.
One of my old friends sisters lives in a similar freegan community somewhere down south. I haven't seen her in over 10 years but I know they live completely sustainably. I'm not sure if they're as strict as tinker's bubble though.
Ha ha, I have to agree with him on that. What services are the government providing him with? I suppose the right not to be thrown in jail for showing that there is an alternative to the system. Don't get me wrong, I can see it's a bloody hard time following that alternative, but these people do show that it's possible if you're prepared to make a lot of sacrifices.
Cheers for another interesting read m8
Posted using Partiko Android
they certainly are committed!
I wonder where that other Freegan community is, there really aren't that many in the UK! Devon/ Somerset - quite a big focus for them though.
I'm always surprised more people haven't heard of these alternative communities!
This one's a bit too extreme for me TBH. As you say, a bit of tech compromise these days would make it (1) more appealing and (2) just easier!
I guess I always worry about what is going to happen when I am old and/or sick. It would be okay if they practised (painless) senilicide like the hunter gatherers you wrote about recently (who seem to have a way better life, the invention of the plough has a lot to answer for). I don't think that's allowed here, though?
It's a valid point, what happens when they get old, no pensions i'm aware of, let alone consideration of health care. It'd be an interesting one to probe deeper.
100% sure they don't do a 'Logan's Run' on their old!
including this in tomorrows digest. super cool.
Hey cool, thanks!
They are taking things to extremes, but they have far less impact than most of us. We cannot expect more than a tiny percentage in rich countries to live like this, but we can ask people to do without some of the wasteful stuff they seem addicted to. Consuming less is a good start.
I'd never come across the concept of carbon negative until these guys!
It's a great reminder of how this lifestyle is not that romantic once you get down to the nitty gritty!
We need may thousands like them to make a real difference. I have my little slice of land that I try to keep fairly natural, but I do take advantage of machines to make life easier.
By little slice of land d'you mean your garden?
I've nothing against machines! Especially when it comes to heavy construction, that's a valid use of fossil fuels if you ask me.
Yes, the garden. We need to limit fossil fuel usage to where it's essential. I can't see flying going fully electric for many years to come. Land and sea travel could move to better alternatives.
I'll be back with more comment after drinking coffee and watching the video.
cool..... peaceful.... relaxing... beautiful photography.
Posted using Partiko Android
Hi, @revisesociology!
You just got a 1.73% upvote from SteemPlus!
To get higher upvotes, earn more SteemPlus Points (SPP). On your Steemit wallet, check your SPP balance and click on "How to earn SPP?" to find out all the ways to earn.
If you're not using SteemPlus yet, please check our last posts in here to see the many ways in which SteemPlus can improve your Steem experience on Steemit and Busy.
Hi @revisesociology!
Your post was upvoted by @steem-ua, new Steem dApp, using UserAuthority for algorithmic post curation!
Your UA account score is currently 4.626 which ranks you at #1747 across all Steem accounts.
Your rank has improved 5 places in the last three days (old rank 1752).
In our last Algorithmic Curation Round, consisting of 213 contributions, your post is ranked at #31.
Evaluation of your UA score:
Feel free to join our @steem-ua Discord server
You got a 51.38% upvote from @ocdb courtesy of @revisesociology! :)
@ocdb is a non-profit bidbot for whitelisted Steemians, current max bid is 60 SBD and the equivalent amount in STEEM.
Check our website https://thegoodwhales.io/ for the whitelist, queue and delegation info. Join our Discord channel for more information.
If you like what @ocd does, consider voting for ocd-witness through SteemConnect or on the Steemit Witnesses page. :)