Embracing Eco-Friendly Campervan Living: A Guide to Sustainable Travel
If you’d like to travel the world without leaving too much of an environmental impact, then the campervan holiday might appeal. You’ll be able to do away with the significant environmental costs of accommodation and air travel while gaining access to scenic spaces that other forms of holiday can’t touch.
According to research from Expedia, holidaymakers are more concerned than ever with sustainable travel. Nine in ten customers surveyed claimed to look for sustainable options while travelling – and this upsurge in environmental interest has coincided with an upsurge in interest in campervan holidays.
With all of that said, there are a few steps we need to take if we’re going to enjoy an optimally green break in our campervans.
Eco-Friendly Campervan Practices
Our first step should be to choose the right campervan and equipment in the first place. Think about what you really need while you’re on the road, and go as minimal as possible. Smaller campervans are not only cheaper to fuel; they’re also cheaper to heat.
Having a strategy in place for dealing with waste can also be hugely helpful. Make use of reusable food containers, water bottles and shopping bags. The fewer single-use items you’re using, the less waste you’ll have to deal with. Where you can’t eliminate an item altogether, you can look into recycling and local compost facilities.
The amount of energy we use on the road can be influenced through measures like insulation and draught-proofing, and by installing the right solar power and battery solutions.
We should also pay special attention to the commodity that all campervan holidaymakers will need: water. The less of it we use, the smaller we can make our environmental impact. Shorter showers, less rinsing, and more efficient appliances can all make a difference.
Challenges and Solutions
Of course, it’s not always easy to cut your energy usage in a campervan. Installing insulation, for example, might impose an up-front cost. This is where borrowing makes sense; if you know you’ll end up spending less in the long term, it makes sense to look for outside finance in order to make that saving happen.
You might also look to secure your campervan finances by shopping for specialised campervan insurance. This way, you’ll cut the risk and free up resources to spend on making your campervan that little bit greener.
In some cases, you might not know exactly which products are going to make a difference to your water or energy consumption. This is where research is called for. Focus your efforts on the parts of your campervan that really make a difference. Low-flow showerheads, for example, tend to result in a lot less water usage over time.
