Home, Home on the Road
Satisfy your nomadic impulses and environmental values with RV retrofitting, including photovoltaic systems, biodiesel fuel, and composting toilets.
July/August 2004
By Carol Venolia
 |
Photo by Michael Shopenn
|
RELATED CONTENT
Car manufacturers such as Ford have begun making fuel cell cars, which create electricity through a...
A new way to convert natural gas fuel into power is being tested in Southern California....
Bicycle infrastructure has helped boost sales of bicycles in the U.S....
Honda one-ups themselves with the release of the CVT Insight—the greenest vehicle for 2001....
A recycling, composting, non-red meat-eater who doesn’t drive much struggles with the real impact o...
Have you ever been tooling down the highway, seen a huge recreational vehicle (RV) roll by, and thought what shameless fuel hogs the drivers were? Yet maybe in the back of your mind was another thought: If only I could find a small RV or power one with biodiesel. It would be wonderful to tour the country, wake up in a warm bed surrounded by forest, cook organic meals in my own rolling kitchen, and not have to pitch a tent every night.
Maybe you can.
RVs range from little fiberglass travel trailers pulled by cars to huge, bus-size, “Class A” motor homes with slide-out rooms. The fuel mileage for motor homes ranges from five to eighteen miles per gallon, and you can spend anywhere from a few hundred dollars for a fixer-upper trailer to several hundred thousand dollars for a Class A model.
Many a happy tent camper has disparaged RV owners for hauling entire houses—complete with TVs, stereos, and noisy generators—into campgrounds. Most RVers say they go on the road because they love being close to nature but like to return to a kitchen and comfy bed at the end of the day. The truth is these folks spend far less time inside their rigs than they would at home; instead they’re out hiking, fishing, and bird-watching. And here’s the kicker: Typical RVers consume less energy while staying in their RVs than they would at home, according to the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association. When we figure only gas mileage, we’re not looking at the whole system. For starters, many RVers drive to a destination and stay for a while. In particular, full timers (people who live in their RVs year-round) park in one place, often for months. Even with low fuel efficiency, that makes their annual vehicle fuel consumption lower than that of the average house-dwelling commuter.
And there’s more to the picture. At any size, an RV has far less interior volume to heat, cool, and light than a house, tipping the total energy usage in favor of RVs as conservation tools. Furthermore, RVers tend to migrate with the seasons, keeping their space-conditioning needs in check while increasing their personal awareness of climate. If we look at other resources, things get even better. RVers have to think about where their electricity comes from, and they carry their water and wastes onboard. They inevitably become more aware of resource cycles.
Does this mean all RVers are fully aware of their role in the complexity of our biosphere? Hardly. But it does mean there’s more potential for environmental responsibility than might appear at first glance. Ecological design pioneer Ian McHarg once said he wished he could send politicians up in a spaceship so they could experience their basic need for clean air and water and intimately understand the importance of reusing all waste products. The RV may be the closest thing to that spaceship for millions of people.
On the downside, RVs simply aren’t made with health and ecology in mind. They’re generally not built to last, their insulation levels are low, their interior materials outgas volatile organic compounds and may include endangered wood species, and they tend to have moisture problems. Furthermore, the odor-control products that many RVers put into waste tanks often contain noxious chemicals that destroy the septic systems at dump stations.
Page: 1 |
2 |
3 |
Next >>