What is sustainability? How do we make sustainable energy choices when living in a motorhome? What do those choices do to the environment? This concept is like an onion. I peel back a bit, and suddenly I realize that there are so many layers!
What Wikipedia Says As Of March 18, 2021
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability
“Sustainability is the ability to exist constantly.[1] In the 21st century, it refers generally to the capacity for Earth’s biosphere and human civilization to co-exist. It is also defined[by whom?] as the process of people maintaining change in a homeostasis-balanced environment, in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potential to meet human needs and aspirations.[2][failed verification] For many in the[which?] field, sustainability is defined through the following interconnected domains or pillars: environmental, economic and social,[3] which according to Fritjof Capra,[4][need quotation to verify] is based on the principles of systems thinking. Sub-domains of sustainable development have been considered[by whom?] also: cultural, technological and political.[5][6] According to Our Common Future, sustainable development is defined as development that “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”[7][8] Sustainable development may be the organizing principle of sustainability, yet others may view the two terms as paradoxical (seeing development as inherently unsustainable).[9][10][11]“
Our RV Energy Choices
I will begin by saying that we are not perfect at being sustainable; NOT AT ALL. We are mindful, though.
Energy Use In Our Home
In our motorhome (RV) we use solar for most of our electrical needs. We slowly purchased the six panels and seven lithium batteries as we upgraded our appliances to be energy efficient and replaced the wasteful lights built into the RV with new LEDs over the last 5 years. We replaced a broken window with one that has less tint because it allows more natural light into the room. Hence, less electricity needed. We are now planning to uninstall and move the solar panels around and Andrew is going to build a lift so that the panels can be perfectly tilted during the winter.
The winter is a challenge. We normally travel to the southwest and have pretty long, cloudless days but the angle of the sun does not hit the panels so that we get all the electricity we need. So, we run the generator an hour or two every couple days for about a month. This is not a clean way to generate electricity. Which is why we are planning the next change to be better.
Where Did Our Old Stuff Go?
You may be wondering, where are our old lights, refrigerator, and batteries? The lights and refrigerator went to a Restore. The batteries went to a recycling center. Hopefully they were reused by someone else? Or maybe it is better if they were not? Hard for me to say; but that’s what we did.
Wondering why we need to run the generator? Why not let the power run out? It’s cold in the desert at night and we need the electricity for the fan in the propane heater. I also HATE the idea of wasting food which could spoil if the electricity runs out. Food is another entire onion of sustainability – the amount of water, diesel, pesticides and backbreaking human labor – the use of animals.
Propane Heat
Yep, we heat the RV with propane at night and throughout the day when we live in colder places. A whole other part of the energy onion. Although we also park with the front end facing east and the passenger side facing south because we open the front blinds to warm up in the morning, close them once we start getting warmer, and use the awning to block the sun when it starts to get too warm.
Driving A Diesel Vehicle
So, are we living sustainably around the issue of energy? Sort of.
Remember that we live in a motorhome. So, that means we move it. In our case, we literally move every two weeks because we don’t live in RV parks and have to get fresh water and empty our waste water tanks. To do these tasks we go to an RV park for one night because it also gives us an opportunity to have a hot shower and do laundry. Don’t worry, we have navy showers every few days in between.
Back to the point about energy use. We drive our diesel motorhome somewhere every two weeks. This home, towing a motorcycle and Jeep gets about 8-12 miles per gallon. Not great. Although, we do plan our big food shopping trip, and RV park stops to be as on the path as possible to our next off grid living spot, which is normally one to seven hours away. Once parked we only drive the Jeep once or twice a week and Andrew uses his motorcycle for fun rides or off-road in some locations. About half the time his motorcycle doesn’t even come off the lift at all. We don’t have a daily commute to our jobs and so we are causing fewer emissions than most (pre-pandemic and possibly still) and definitely less than we did when we both drove 20-45 minutes to our separate workplaces five days a week.
Are We Living Sustainably?
There it is. The basics of how we make decisions about our energy consumption. We are not completely sustainable. If that is even possible.
We work towards more sustainability – it’s our personal ongoing project. We love this nomad lifestyle and I am thrilled to be able to live this way.
I also love that Andrew is able to research and learn so much from YouTube and other sources online to be able to install the panels, batteries, lights, etc. His interest in more efficient technologies and willingness to learn allows us to become more sustainable.
Sustainability is an evolving concept for me. We look at everything we do, own, make, etc. and dive in with questions and research.
There is energy for homes and cars, there is the building of homes and cars in the first place, fashion and style, the food we eat, the pets we keep, etc!
I started this lara.earth, this blog, and my Etsy shop because, over time, I’ve become more and more aware of the many facets of sustainability. I want to explore them and by doing it publically, hopefully draw a bit more attention to the issue.
Companies and governments hold a lot of power and responsibility; I think we do, too. Where and how we make purchases, what we are willing to give up to be more sustainable.
Full disclosure – We also own rental homes and they do not have solar power. These properties are a whole other part of our eco-footprint and I’ll sare about them in a post in the future!
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