By now, I think we’re all aware of the struggle our planet is facing and it can be hard to know how to help. We’ve put this post together to share some of the things we do daily to minimise our effects on the environment, and maybe inspire you to make some small changes too! Living full-time on the road often leaves me feeling guilty, as we are crunching miles up and down the country, (and beyond), in a rather diesel-guzzling old Mercedes. However, I like to think the eco-friendly changes we have made kind of make up for this… what do you think Mother Nature? Being vegan, we’ve also lived without a Terry’s chocolate orange for a long time so please cut us some slack, ey?

By no means are we eco-warriors on a mission to get everyone making clothes from grass and bathing in rivers, we just think the changes we have made are quite easy to implement and could make a real difference if we all tried to do at least one of them! If you think any of our ideas are good, please tell your friends and family - let’s get everyone together to create a better future for this weird blue and green ball we float about on.

1. Use less water

Okay this probably seems obvious, but living in a van and having a limited amount of water on board at any one time has truly taught me how to conserve as much water as possible. We have a 75L underslung water tank with an extra 5L Lifesaver jerrycan inside the van and a 10L jerrycan under the bed which we use for showers. This lasts us about 7 days, but can vary depending on what we’ve cooked that week, the weather, or how many showers we’ve had. If we do make our 90L of water last a week, that’s an average usage of 12.8L per day between two people. To put this into perspective, a 5 minute average shower uses over 40L. I’m not saying everyone should make 90L last a week, but maybe being a little more mindful of your water usage isn’t such a bad thing.

2. Eco toiletries

Over the past couple of years, toiletries such as shampoo bars have grown massively in popularity. They are a great eco-friendly alternative to standard hair and body care which are often full of chemicals and stored in plastic containers. With so many alternatives branded ‘vegan’ and ‘eco-friendly’, it’s important to read the ingredients list as many companies are greenwashing, and making their products seem far more eco-friendly than they actually are. I’ve been using shampoo and conditioner bars for a few years now and I have tried some horrendous ones that go bitty and leave hair matted and tangled.

There is, however, a particularly awesome small business called Ellie's Eco Shop making bars that leave hair looking glossy and feeling strong with planet-friendly ingredients. This isn’t a paid mention for Ellie, we just love sharing the products of small brands and businesses that we enjoy and use regularly.

Along with transitioning to eco bars, we also use reusable cotton pads that simply go in the laundry when they are dirty. I used to go through lots of single-use cotton pads, so this has been a fantastic and super easy change for me (they also feel much nicer on the skin). We were gifted ours for Christmas a couple of years ago but you can find them on eBay, Amazon and Etsy or maybe even make them yourself!

3. Say NO to fast fashion

The phrase ‘fast fashion’ is referring to a large part of the fashion industry that creates low-quality clothing at an extremely fast pace to meet trend demands. Often workers are treated and paid appallingly and the impact fast fashion is having on the planet is profound with an estimated 92 million tonnes of textile waste produced each year. The next time you fancy buying a new item of clothing or an outfit for a party or event, see what you already own - we tend to cycle through the same clothes most of the time so you might be surprised at what’s lurking at the bottom of your wardrobe! If you still want to grab a new piece, try looking in charity shops, vintage markets or even sites like eBay, Depop and Vinted for high-quality second-hand items at a fraction of the cost, and a much lower environmental footprint. We absolutely love going to charity shops when we pass through a new town or village, and honestly, it’s gotten to a point that hardly any of the items in our wardrobes were bought new, and if they were, we’ve worn them to death and they probably have some dodgy sewing repairs on them.

4. Eco cleaning products

Of all the planet-friendly living tips in this blog, this is probably our most recent change. When it comes to cleaning products we use dishcloths that go in the laundry, a wooden brush with replacement heads, and we only ever use the most planet-friendly brands we can find. However, the lovely team at Ekologik recently reached out to us and sent us their plastic-free washing-up pods which we loved. Although we’re still using the rest of the washing-up liquid we already had, (another tip - use what you have!), we have also been using the pods for when we have quite a few dishes to clean and they are fab. They have kindly given us an affiliate link to share which means we get a smidge of commission if you buy any of their products through our link - please let us know if you do this as we’d like to say a big thank you!

Use the code ‘HIPPY15’ to save 15% across the entire Ekologik shop.

Check out Ekologik’s plastic-free, biodegradable planet friendly products here.

5. Reduce food waste

Whether you are a kitchen lover or loather, too much food ends up in our bins every day. Across the world, 25%-30% of total food produced is wasted. This is an astronomical number with the UK alone producing nearly 10 million tonnes of food waste a year. We’re not going to say you should be eating orange peel or banana skins, but there are some small changes we can make to instil cost-effective and planet-friendly habits in the kitchen. ‘

One of the biggest changes we have made is only doing our food shop once every 7-10 days. Along with ensuring we get creative with our meals and use a variety of fresh, dried and tinned foods, reducing the number of times you go to the shop, means you are less likely to be tempted to buy foods and treats you don’t really need.

We also don’t really take much notice of use-by dates and our rule of thumb is if it smells and tastes okay and isn’t weeks out of date, it’s probably fine. Please be cautious with this one though, I remember returning from a camping trip as a child and my brother pulled, unknowingly to him, the 2 week old milk from the fridge to pour over his cheerios and it came out solid.

Something I wasn’t aware of until a few years ago was that there is an abundance of nutrients in the skin of fruits and vegetables. Although not all are edible, veggies like carrots, parsnips and potatoes don’t need to be peeled. They instead, can be washed and cooked as usual with the skins on which saves all that goodness from ending up in the bin. You also get extra fibre from eating the skin which is important for healthy digestion. Don’t forget any leftover veg can be cooked down, blitzed into a stock and kept in an ice tray in the freezer for an instant punch of flavour for future meals (great tip from @maxlamanna).

FAQs

Is it hard to find clean drinking water living full-time on the road?

In the 3 years or so we’ve been travelling full time on the road, we have never been in a situation where we have really struggled to find water and fill our tank and jerrycans. We have, on two occasions, paid to fill up our water tank - once before driving over to the Isle of Skye in Scotland, and once again when we were actually on Skye and couldn’t find many options. Usually, we use public taps such as those at petrol stations (which are free 99% of the time), or natural springs depending on the roads our travels have taken us down.

Can you grow plants in a campervan?

Yes! You can absolutely grow plants in a campervan - maybe I'm being naïve but if you have decent soil, sunlight and water, can’t you grow a plant pretty much anywhere? Currently, we have 9 different plants thriving in the hippy bus, such as baby tomatoes, cacti and spider plants which we love and care for every day. Plants are a great way to freshen up what can sometimes feel like a closed, stuffy space and instead bring a new lease of life, responsibility, scent and colour!

What are the pros and cons of having an underslung water tank on a campervan?

On one hand, underslung water tanks are a great option for campervans as they do not take up any space inside the camper. However, on the other hand, if you’re heading to pretty warm or cold climates, you’ll want to be a little smarter than us and insulate your tank and water pipe.

When we were in Scotland during the winter of 2021, our water pipe froze multiple times and if we weren’t prepared with a jerrycan of water inside and a full kettle to keep us going until the pipe defrosted, we were pretty miserable. In contrast, over in Portugal earlier this year when the temperature exceeded 38°c, the water flowing out from our tap was hot.

Honestly, no exaggeration here when I say we were washing our dishes with hot water most days which normally would have felt like a luxury, but whilst we baked and sweltered inside Peps in the heat, it really wasn’t too great. As Peppé already had an underslung water tank and we only had around 5 weeks to complete the conversion, it seemed pointless to pour time, energy and money into a new water system but I’m sure we will get around to it one day!

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