How to Be Environmentally Conscious as an Rver

Hi, it's Lauren here again, and today I'm going to share with you six ways that the RVeers can be more environmentally conscious hauling a 42 foot fifth wheel with a gas guzzling truck down the highway like we do, doesn't really scream. We're environmentally conscious. However, there are a few things you can do as an RVeer to show care for the environment. Here are a few things that we've learned along the way that can help with that. The first thing we always try to be mindful of is water usage. A great way to conserve water is to use a water pressure regulator, a water pressure regulator is a super impactful way to use less water. They're really inexpensive to purchase, and they have so many benefits. The most important thing is they can save you from having to repair your RV's plumbing from a high pressure disaster. You never know what the water pressure is going to be When connecting at a campground, if you have too much pressure, it can actually cause your pipes to explode. We love our water pressure regulator because it enables us to take showers without running out of hot water. It does reduce water pressure a little bit, but this enables us to conserve water when showering, washing hands or washing dishes. The second item on our list is minimizing use of disposable dishes using paper plates and plastic utensils can seem to make things easier at times, but it produces a lot of waste and it isn't eco-friendly our family of four has one plate per person, one bowl per person, two cups per person, and two of each eating utensil per person. And this has served us well. I found some great lightweight plastic reusable dishes at target that were really inexpensive. And we love those and we use them daily. They take up less room than keeping around stacks of paper plates and they're creating less waste. The third thing on our list is recycling. Unfortunately, we found that many campgrounds don't offer recycling bins. They only have one big trash bin that you throw everything in. We love when we go to a campground that does offer separate recycling bins for our recyclables. If your campground does not offer recycling, you can keep a separate recycling bin in the bed of your truck, or maybe an extra storage of your RV. Once your recycling bin is full you have several options. You can ask your camp hosts where the closest recycling is to the campground city or County websites usually have recycling information. And a third option is to join the Facebook group recycle on the road. The fourth suggestion I have for you is to donate and shop second hand we live full-time in our RV and we're always continuing to downsize. We realize that some of the things we thought we needed, we don't, and we want to get rid of them. In order to reduce clutter, we stayed at several campgrounds that have little stations for donating things that you don't want. And we love those units. It makes it really convenient to donate things you don't need or have room for. The more we get rid of the happier we are. Living in clutter is tough. We also buy used whenever possible clothing, books, bikes, appliances, you wouldn't believe the deals I've found shopping second hand. It feels great to save money, but even greater knowing that I'm having a positive environmental impact. The fifth item on the list is converting lighting to LED. There are so many benefits to using LED lights. LEDs use about 10% of the power that standard lights use. They can last up to 60,000 hours. That's almost seven years. They generate less heat which enables you to use your energy sucking air conditioner even less. LEDs can produce anywhere from 10 to 50 times the amount of light than a normal light bulb would in the same fixture. These are just a few reasons you should switch over to LED lights. If you don't currently have them in your rig. The sixth and final item on our list is to use solar. Converting to solar is a huge energy saver. It does require an initial investment, but it is well worth it With solar power there's no noise, no fuel costs, no maintenance and no smell. Unlike a generator, if converting to a full system, isn't in your budget, you can try a portable solar panel, which is great for occasional boondocking. Using the sun as power is a great way to reduce your footprint. There are many ways to practice being environmentally conscious. These are just a few ideas to get you started. What other ways can you add to the list?