This week on Green Mamma, I am happy to introduce Forced Green, a new green living web-site started by Laura Rembowski, who says that going green means being “aware of our carbon footprint and . . . mak[ing] changes in our lives . . . [to] make this world a better place.” Currently, Linda lives in a recreational vehicle, or an R.V., which she describes as “bootcamp” for going green. Here’s what Linda has to say about living green when your home’s on wheels:
1. Conserve water and power. Water conservation and power are daily necessities for R.V. living. By reducing the gallons of water used each time we flush the toilet, wash our hands, toss in a load of laundry, or hop into the bath and shower, we are helping to save water, water, water! Ways to be mindful of water use include: installing a water dam into our toilets or purchasing low flush toilets, using energy efficient and high efficiency washers, and co-bathing or timed baths and showers.
As for cutting out power draining habits? Linda explains the way our society’s dependency on power adds up: “Even when powered down, computer desk equipment, entertainment center, coffee pot, hair dryers, and appliances are consuming energy. Use power strips with on/off buttons. Plug all your equipment into them and switch them off when they’re not in use so that they’re not pulling a load.”
2. Grow a young environmentalist. Linda is aunt to several green nieces and nephews. To peak youth interest in caring for nature, Linda suggests that children be allowed to grow a plant or garden. To get started, she explains, “Give them a packet of seeds, let them plant it, and care for it. They will go out each and every day to watch it grow.”
In addition to showing children how to grow and care for plants, Linda suggests taking children for a walk, bringing a plastic bag, and allowing them to pick up debris to help keep the environment clean. One of my own favorite green moments with Annabelle happened on a hot summer morning last August; we jogged down to our bike trail where Annabelle sat in her stroller and observed her passionate green mamma picking up discarded bottles, cans, paper, and cigarette butts for some 500 yards. I filled 6 bags or so, which isn’t much in the grand scheme of things; however, I know that somewhere in my little one’s mind, she’ll understand the value of cleaning up and caring for our earth.
When it comes to teaching our children to value their environment, Linda puts it best, “If they keep the land clean, they’ll learn that [the earth] will take care of them.”
3. Go high-tech! Linda swears by Hy-Tech paint, which incorporates a ceramic barrier into household paint and works to reduce your home’s absorption of heat by reflecting the sun off the walls of a house. And guess who is a major customer of Hy-Tech paint? None other than the leaders of air and space research, NASA! To learn more about Hy-Tech paint and its environmental benefits, visit Hy-TECH Sales.
4. Grow a dirt-free garden. While living in a motor home provides access to wide open spaces and beautiful scenery, Linda’s front yard is ever changing. To stay in touch with nature when out on the road, Linda makes use of aeroponics, a dirt free growing method in which a plant’s roots are suspended in a 100% humidity, highly oxygenated chamber. Aerogrow, the company that provided Linda with her own aeroponic garden, is committed to sustainability for climate protection and employee wellness. Oh, and just in case your wondering, aeroponics is said to produce vegetables that are just as nutritious, if not more so, than traditionally grown plants.
5. Spot the Green Seal. Linda recommends that when shopping for green products, especially suspect items that may be “green washed,” to search for the Green Seal of approval. Based on a life cycle evaluating process, Green Seal evaluates a product from material extraction and its inception to manufacturing and use and ending with recycling or disposal of a product. To find out whether your favorite green products are Green Seal certified, visit Green Seal.org.
Living green on the road has opened Linda’s eyes to ingenuous ways to care for the earth’s environment. Of her unique motor home lifestyle and its influence on her efforts to care for the earth, Linda comments, “I often [think] that if everyone in the world was required to live in an RV for year or two, there would be absolutely no problem[s] living in our environment.”
With the rising costs of gasoline on our budgets and the environment, those living an RV or motor home lifestyle may want to learn more ways to live green on the road, save money, and reduce their overall impact on the earth. And for everyone else concerned with caring for the earth, check out Linda at Forced Green to learn easy ways to live a natural life in an industrial world.
Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the RV lifestyle is growing. Here’s a few neat facts and stats about RVs from RV-N-Motorhomes:
Typically RVers travel 4500 miles annually on excursions that total 28 to 35 days annually.
Americans in the age group of 35-to-54 year are keener on owning an RV of their own.
The typical RV owner is age 49, married, owns a home and has an annual household income of $68,000.
With nearly 7.2 million RVs on the road in the year 2001, the sales of RVs have steadily increased through the following years: 2002, +21.1%; 2003, +3.2%; 2004, +15.4%.
RV rental has become a $350 million/year business, experiencing a 63% growth rate between 1997 and 2002, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and the RV Rental Assoc.
The retail value of RVs produced was more than $12.4 billion. Combined with the RV rental market, it is estimated that RVs are $15.75 billion a year industry.
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