We are fully eco - Logical, right? Is that really so? Our CO2 footprint

How green are we? 

What is our ecological footprint? What about our ecological footprint? Is thinking and acting green even possible as a camper? Freethinkers like us, of course, stand in the countryside from time to time. We find that much better than being stuck in a traffic jam in Cologne. Just wild and free. So we also park sometimes in the forest 🌳 and enjoy the fresh air there. Also on the heath, at the sea or in a dried riverbed we are to be found from time to time. As soon as pictures of it appear, one or the other sees himself eager to get out the morals and especially the eco club. And that is also good. Discussions of any kind encourage questions that one is reluctant to ask oneself. Is it allowed? Is that even allowed? Or is it still in keeping with the times? These are all questions that we believe are justified. Whether this always has to take place with a raised forefinger is then again a completely different question. 

Eco trend

Whereby one question has certainly been answered. And that is whether eco-consciousness is in vogue. Green issues do not only influence the election results of the Greens. The number of people who still question climate change is undoubtedly getting smaller every year. It doesn't help to shout "after us the deluge" and rejoice that, like us, you don't have children. After all, the effects are already being clearly felt in the here and now. This will certainly not get any better. So the issue also affects us directly and personally.

Interim balance

Reason enough for us to take stock of the situation. Since we are sometimes accused of greenwashing, we would like to address this first. I, Marc, have already clearly positioned myself against greenwashing in my past. Otherwise, why would I have supported sustainable building with certificate, ecological house construction, regenerative energies, especially solar energy and its storage for years in my former job, only to dissolve the partnership after a turning away from these goals here. - Greenwashing is dirt. - With us nothing is to be washed cleanly, because even master Proper could bring there nothing to mirror. Or should it be called Frosch Reiniger here? 

Footprint 👣

Therefore, one thing in advance, our record is appalling. If we were to sell ourselves as ecologists, which we are not, this would simply be a lie. But let's take a closer look. Being environmentally conscious also means being aware of the environment. Every person leaves his or her own personal footprint 👣. With every cup ☕️, every piece of steak 🥩. Mine, ours has definitely become significantly smaller in recent weeks and months. Nevertheless, there would still be a lot to do. And often convenience gets in the way, especially for me. Is that a good thing? No, of course not, but it is human.

Carnivorous plant

Let's take a look at the food: one steak a week for me, but an apple for Torgit. As a carnivorous plant, I benefit greatly from having a vegetarian at my side. In the meantime, I also eat much less meat. Of course, my mind advises me to do without meat altogether, but my flesh is weak again. Why do the little animals also taste so good? Otherwise we pay attention to seasonal fruit and vegetables, or organic, also I with the meat. - But that's not so easy when you're on the road. Try to do without Nestle products in some southern countries. Have fun searching. Because every market wants to be found. 

Coffee

Since we no longer own a Rocket portafilter, our coffee consumption has dropped significantly, to one cup at a time. - That's already a start. However, I think the extrapolation of water consumption is wrong in this case. After all, most coffee grows in regions where there is no need for artificial irrigation. By the way, we stocked up on van Dyck coffee again in Cologne. This small Cologne coffee roastery makes no compromises and roasts only fairtrade and organic coffee. We're happy to pay a few cents more for that. 

Living space

The old building apartment (bunker) heated with fossil fuels in a central downtown Cologne location was exchanged for a Bulli. This means the living space was reduced from approx. 170sqm living space, plus another 70sqm usable space, plus approx. 40sqm underground parking spaces to approx. 6sqm. Urgently needed housing in the city was thus freed up. All inventory was either sold, lent or, for the most part, given away. 

Vehicle fleet

Instead of three cars, a van, SpaceCamper halt. In addition, more bicycles. Still no electric car, but there is no coherent concept for this yet. The Iridum 70B would not be an alternative for us, neither in terms of range, purchase price, nor possibilities. It is certainly way ahead of the game. Volkswagen will only launch its electric Bulli in two years. And neither the T7, nor the Buzz are intended as campers. Even beyond that, campers & Campervans with electric drive in short supply for the foreseeable future. And a Citroen Ami would be a bit too small for us. 

That's why we deliberately chose a VW T6.1 Spacecamper with 6D-TEMP, one of the cleanest engines in the world. In contrast, our Smart Brabus was an eco sow. Our SpaceCamper may not be as cool as some old MAN, Hanomag, Land Rover Defender, old Mercedes G-Class, T1, T2, T3 & Co. But it is cleaner, at least in its ecological balance. Otherwise, please don't look too closely.

Solar Power

Speaking of electricity for the refrigerator, lights and the like. We now not only generate most of it ourselves, but also store it. So we are relatively independent of campsites. Refrigerators, lights, i.e. LEDs, have been completely trimmed to low consumption. Water and waste is also significantly reduced, it just does not fit so much purely.

CleanUp

In addition, we collect garbage in Mother Nature, our personal CAMPaign and dispose of it. Are we alternative now? No, we are just looking for alternatives. For us, environmentally friendly means dealing with the environment in a friendly way. So also with the one who lives in this environment. Therefore we like to go ahead, but please not with the raised forefinger. If we want to change something sustainably, we can only do it together anyway.

On the whole, we think we are already on the right track. Of course, our footprint is still far from perfect. 

Eco shampoo

Paying attention to environmental impact when it comes to shampoo, dishwashing detergent & co. is more of a challenge than we thought. We make sure that everything we use is as phosphate- and paraben-free, as well as biodegradable. But biodegradability only means that they are degraded by living organisms in the soil. So we keep as far away as possible from rivers or lakes when washing. But can someone explain to me why a biodegradable shampoo often has to cost many times as much and, above all, why on top of it all a useless additional plastic packaging is used? 

Shady side

And every now and then we drive on top over field and forest paths or even worse, we take a photo of BUTCH in front of a Rheinbraun / RWE Excavator. Regarding the forest roads, our underbody protection would prevent any dripping. Whereby I assume that nothing is dripping there yet. And who thinks we would consider opencast mining like in Inden & Co. as positive, interprets. Maybe we just photographed BUTCH in front of the skeleton of a dinosaur. And as we know, they are also extinct. 

Conclusion

As we said, we are far from perfect. - If you want to know what your footprint is, we recommend the calculator of the World Wide Found. But please do not scare 😉 .

Update 1.1 - June 2023

In the last year, things have changed for us. After three years of full time van life in the VW bus, we have not only created a base on Sicily, but built on top a vacation apartment.

Our base is a small country house with barely 42 square meters of living space, in the middle of an olive grove. Here we maintain a total of about 160 olive trees, as well as some fruit trees. A small vegetable garden completes the whole.

Here, too, we generate and store our own electricity. Despite the fact that we have purchased a Smart in addition to the VW bus, our CO2 balance should have improved again.

Our olive trees make a significant contribution to this.
But we have also given a few sustainable thoughts to our PALAZZO VETRANO vacation apartment. You can find them here.