Forum Discussion

4X4Dodger's avatar
4X4Dodger
Explorer II
Apr 27, 2016

The RV Life and the environment

As we lumber around the landscape in our monstrous sized Class A's, huge Class B's and C's, 3/4 Ton Diesel Pickups towing that Long Long trailer and converted Buses are we as a group a blight on the Environment?

My bet is that Full timers are actually net energy SAVERS. But only if they do not keep a house in addition to the RV.

If you live in your RV then you use less of almost everything, water, electricity, and maybe even petroleum.

This came to mind from another post on the wasting of paper and trees on this forum.

When you live in a small space whether it be a Trailer, MH, Sailboat or Tiny House (think Tiny House Nation)you learn to conserve. If you flush the toilet in your house it pours about 4 gallons of water down the drain. Here in my RV I probably use less than a quart per flush.

We reuse or re purpose many otherwise Throw-away articles, like paper and plastic bags.

Since we got our PMB our junk mail has stopped almost completely as most senders have now programmed out almost all of the PMB addresses. We do almost ALL of our banking and financial tasks online. Therefore a HUGE amount of paper is saved.

Right now the US is awash in petroleum. In fact they cant find enough space to store it all. We are for the first time the largest oil producer in the world even over Saudi Arabia. But this wont last. We all still need to be aware of how we can all save energy, in all it's forms.

We all need to encourage the RV industry, Parks and GSE to conserve and become more energy efficient.

I would like to see GSE take the lead on this. When companies conserve they make more money...and we all know how much Marcus likes money.
  • When we lived in a s&b we both had to commute five days a week and did errands and stuff two days a week. The gas usage was equivalent to what we use now - about 30 gallons per week.

    When we lived in a s&b, we probably used the US average of 80 gallons of water a day. Now we use that in a week.

    When we lived in a s&b, since we couldn't move our house when the weather got uncomfortable, we had to use quite a bit of heat (natural gas) during the winter and A/C (electricity) during the summer. Our house was 1500 sf. Now we move to where the weather is good, and avoid using either much of the time. We also have 600W of solar, which provides for most of our needs. It doesn't hurt that we are only heating or cooling 300 sf.

    Are we more conservative (in the resources sense)? Absolutely. Which means we also 'conserve' quite a bit of money.
  • Since the first of the year my house has used over $1000 in propane. My motorhome in the same period has used about $120 and we have been in the motorhome most of that time.
  • csamayfield55 wrote:
    I really don't care how much energy I use in any form! I paid for it, I paid taxes on it therefore it is mine to use as I see fit

    I conserve energy in my home to save money, not because some greenie twit driving his prius around thinks I need to! I drive my motorcycle to work almost every day not to save the planet (that will be here long after any of our descendants) but to save on paying for fuel and wear and tear on my 1 ton diesel truck!!

    My guess is that my carbon footprint is way smaller than mrs. soccer mom driving in her Suburban everywhere, running the air conditioning in her house at 60, and then yelling at me for idling my truck when I fill up (yep has happened)

    Chris



    Soooo, the person driving his/her Prius is a "greenie Twit" but you're somehow not because you have chosen two wheels! lol

    Anyhoo, I know that when were traveling in our rig we use less resources and save money simply because there's less room to put needless **** and the smaller space is cheaper to heat/cool, etc.
  • I really don't care how much energy I use in any form! I paid for it, I paid taxes on it therefore it is mine to use as I see fit

    I conserve energy in my home to save money, not because some greenie twit driving his prius around thinks I need to! I drive my motorcycle to work almost every day not to save the planet (that will be here long after any of our descendants) but to save on paying for fuel and wear and tear on my 1 ton diesel truck!!

    My guess is that my carbon footprint is way smaller than mrs. soccer mom driving in her Suburban everywhere, running the air conditioning in her house at 60, and then yelling at me for idling my truck when I fill up (yep has happened)

    Chris
  • Naio's avatar
    Naio
    Explorer II
    I think about this a lot.

    I use far less electricity in my van than in a house. I go places where I don't need to heat or cool.

    I don't actually drive much :).

    I use a lot of paper towels, plastic bags, bottled water, and baby wipes. I never even bought these in my S&B. They are so practical when laundry, water, and showers are difficult.

    I put in a huge vegetable garden for a friend whose driveway I was staying in. I think this is an eco thing, though it uses a bit more water than their previous bare dirt :). I want to build them a greywater system.

    Laundromats don't have the greywater system that my S&B has, nor the 100% renewable electricity. Campgrounds may or may not let me hang clothes to dry.

    There are plusses and minuses. I try to do the right things...
  • 3oaks wrote:
    Well, 4X4Dodger, if your serious about conservation and the environment, let's all go back to tenting. Forget about electrical hook-ups, running water with flush toilets and shower houses, and all the frivolous amenities that aren't really camping necessities. :@

    There IS that thought but but I think it's already been rejected by many:D.
  • How much fuel does a passenger jet use ? 200 passengers travelling from California to Florida to visit Disney World. Hotel/ Restaurant energy use...

    I guess we could all "Staycation" at home.
  • Well, 4X4Dodger, if your serious about conservation and the environment, let's all go back to tenting. Forget about electrical hook-ups, running water with flush toilets and shower houses, and all the frivolous amenities that aren't really camping necessities. :@
  • Living in an RV is substantially "greener" than living in a 4,000 square feet McMansion.
  • I think this is partly true but IMO we are mostly a blight when you start factoring in all the manufacturing and maintenance that we, as "campers" create. Also, if we paid the electric cost to heat and cool our units we would see their efficiency (water heaters, AC, heat pumps, single pain glass, lower R values everywhere) is WAY less than optimal.

    Those of us that have had or currently have small boats or campers with 10 gal fresh water tank and 10 gal holding tanks or we dry camp might be more conservative. But doubt it would ever off set the gargantuan amount of fuel we burn to get to wherever we are going and the associated touring once there. Not to mention the fuel to run the ATVs, generators and BBQ grills.

    There is a LONG ways to go in this respect...still an environmental blight but I want other see other countries take the financial lead on the environment. I am tired of paying for the world to get ahead.

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