Today I am going to dip my toe in to test some turbulent waters. This blog is not meant to discuss whether we as Americans should drill for oil or not, and it’s not meant to discuss fossil fuels versus renewable energy. Just for the record though, I personally feel we should drill for oil in the shorter term and I feel we should continue to seek cost effective alternative fuels for the long term. If however you would like to discuss and/or comment on the topic of the US drilling for oil see Bob Difley’s blog titled, Will Drilling ANWR Ease the Oil Crisis?
My blog today is about what we as RVers can do to be more environmentally friendly as we traverse the country in our RV’s. In addition to producing educational videos on how to use and maintain RV’s I write for different RV trade and RV consumer publications. One column I write is titled RV Smart. It’s for a new consumer magazine titled “RV Magazine.” My most recent assignment is for an article discussing different ways that RVers can be environmentally friendly. This can cover a broad range of topics like: lessening the carbon footprint we leave behind by using renewable energy sources, to just being good stewards to the land we enjoy using so much.
If you think about it RV’s are already environmentally friendly just by design. For example:
1) We are not heating or for that matter using as much water as we do in our homes.
2) It is more efficient to heat and cool the RV simply because of the amount of space we are heating and/or cooling, as compared to our homes.
3) Lots of devices in our RVs use 12-volt DC power, that at home, would require 120-volt AC for the same devices to operate.
The biggest culprit as it relates to energy consumption and environmental concerns are of course the fossil fuels burned getting from point A to point B in our RV’s. But, there are ways we can improve in this area too. And RV manufacturers and automobile manufacturers are designing green RVs, smaller and lighter RV’s and engines that run on alternative fuels.
We as a country, and moreso as RVers can and should protect the environment and leave it in as good of, if not better, condition than we found it. One of my wishes is for my children’s children, and their future generations to visit some of the same spectacular places we have visited in our RV ; and when they do, to see it the same way it was when we first saw it.
I thought what better way to get some input for this upcoming article than to present it to you, the readers and fellow RVers of the RV Net Blog, for comments on how we can be more environmental friendly RVers. Post any suggestions, ideas or comments you have on effective ways we as RVers can give back to our environment; from using renewable energy sources like solar panels, to just plain slowing down and conserving some fuel.
I look forward to your comments, ideas and suggestions.
Happy Camping,
Mark Polk