tread lightly





One can move towards living more green in a small trailer. We definitely leave a smaller overall footprint on the environment than most. Think of how much energy and water is used in houses, condominiums, or apartments compared to that of an RV. Rigs also consume significantly less energy for heating and cooling. Space constraints limit the number of electricity-using gadgets. Hopefully, one would also choose to do with a minimum of these, anyway. RV heads flush with minimal water. And then there are Navy showers to further conserve water.

Granted fuel consumption is a factor, but remember total mileage is far less than commuters, let alone what trucks and planes consume. My yearly loop only racks up about 6,000 miles.

Possibly the best way to reduce our impact on the environment is to consume fewer resources. RVers can take shorter trips and stay longer at each camping spot, thus saving fuel and reducing emissions. Keep the tow vehicle tuned up, replace the fuel and air filters, lube the wheel bearing, inflate tires properly, make sure brakes are not dragging, get rid of excess pounds (unneeded items, water, gray, and black tanks), etc, to get the best gas mileage (and drive 55). Also keep up on RV maintenance so the rig lasts longer.

Go solar for clean energy. Mount a permanent panel on the roof and have another portable one for when parked in the shade. Convert to long-lasting compact fluorescent lights or LED’s, turn off unnecessary lights, and nix those decorative patio lights. Install switches in DC lines so electronic gear is not drawing continuous juice.

Just parking in the shade in hot weather and out in the sun in cold weather will save quite a bit of energy. The patio awning will also help keep that side of the trailer and the refrigerator cooler. Window awnings are also helpful.

If you have a pilot ignition water heater, keeping it set to ‘Pilot’ rather than ‘On’ will save quite a bit of propane. The water is, surprisingly, generally more than hot enough. If you have a direct spark water heater, at least turn it off at night. Converting to an on-demand tankless water heater is also an alternative.

Unless it is below freezing, the furnace or catalytic heater can also be turned off at night. It’s more energy efficient to use a good sleeping bag or throw on an extra blanket. Small fiberglass trailers heat back up in just a few minutes.

Install a water filter instead of buying bottled water. Landfills are overflowing with all those plastic bottles. Recycle what you can, while shopping bring your own bags instead of using the store’s plastic ones, exchange books rather than buy them, bicycle instead of take the car if going less than a couple of miles, and just get into a reducing/conserving mindset.

There are all kinds of sites where one can get more ideas on leaning towards green. If one is interested in figuring out one’s carbon footprint, check out: carbonfootprint.com

Merely cutting down on consumerism helps a great deal. Resist the urge to buy. Once one learns how to do it, it becomes second nature.

There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man
than the way in which they can build
and yet leave a landscape as it was before.


RVwest article ‘Following a Free Spirit’
FOR INDEX OF POSTINGS GO TO JULY 2006

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

park model, rick’s ’66, 4 miles an hour,
and a kindle

Image
I’m sure I’ve mentioned somewhere on these pages that I like park model trailers. If I ever regress to wanting a house, this is the route I would go. Park models are built on a trailer chassis, registered as RVs, and are limited to 400 sq. ft. They can be moved from time to time but they are designed to be used, pretty much, in one spot. The photo is of their Wedge model. This site also has some pretty cool units: http://smallhousebliss.com/category/small-prefab-and-modular-houses/ I was reading ‘World Ark,’ the Heifer International magazine, and there was an article about a small village in Nepal. The women make two 3-hour hikes each day, to haul water for their families and animals. There is a 5,000’ elevation difference from down where the water is, back up to the mountaintop village. Unreal. And forget about holidays and sick days. I’ve heard of similar stories—but 5,000’! I bet the husbands in this village never piss-off their wives. Theresa and David ...
Read more

solstice, new tenant, and sci-fi

Image
Hope you had a Stellar Solstice, the Earth’s New Year. “Cultures around the world have long held feasts and celebrated holidays around the winter solstice. Fire and light are traditional symbols of celebrations held on the darkest day of the year. Humans may have observed the winter solstice as early as Neolithic period—the last part of the Stone Age, beginning about 10,200 B.C. Neolithic monuments, such as Newgrange in Ireland and Maeshowe in Scotland, are aligned with sunrise on the winter solstice. Some archaeologists have theorized that these tomb-like structures served a religious purpose in which Stone Age people held rituals to capture the sun on the year’s shortest day. Stonehenge, which is oriented toward the winter solstice sunset, may also have been a place of December rituals for Stone Age people.” We picked up an addition to our household in the last two or three weeks. A mouse. I first became aware of it when I noticed Mesa on-point facing the bottom of a wall. Do...
Read more

chompin' to hit the road - big eyes at night,
homemade trailer, onyx and turkeys

Image
I generally follow the geese south. Now I’m thinking of following the hummingbirds. They left the last week in August. I had to, at least, dig out Wright’s book and the Delorme atlases. Planned a tentative route to New Mexico for whenever this job is over. Went through three 25 pound bags of sugar this summer with the hummingbirds. A handful of birds stuck around for the first two weeks of September but finally left. Sure hope they still found flowers along the way. There have been some transients coming through but I’ve taken most of the feeders down, given them a good scrubbing with bleach, and stored them away for next summer. Guess I’ll try it here one more summer. It’s been pretty slow here since the forest fire. If the weekly take gets any lower, AL&L will probably tell me to wrap things up here. Oh well, so much for working until October 15. Finally hooked up the 50 watt solar panel. Works great. Way more power than I use. Before I head south, I’ll install it up on the roof ...
Read more