Alternative Energy Options While Glamping

What better way to get close to nature and have an adventurous, sustainable weekend than to go camping? Getting out into the wild, sleeping under the stars, and hiking through the hills carries a certain pleasure hard to get anywhere else. However, sometimes it’s nice to be able to bring modern technology with you when you go camping.

Fortunately, advancements in camping technology have made it possible to bring a few luxuries into the woods with you. Innovations in alternative energy options have made it so that you can take your luxuries with you guilt free.

Eco-Friendly Glamping

If you like to mix luxury and camping, then glamping is definitely for you. The term, meaning glamorous camping, involves bringing the comforts of home with you while you enjoy spending time in nature. However, this can clash with the intentions and purpose of camping. Since glamping usually involves camping gear that can cause pollution and environmental damage, appreciating nature can easily turn into polluting it.  

 

The first consideration for sustainable yet luxurious camping is getting solar-powered camping gear. Of course, you can start off by getting solar power batteries and lanterns instead of battery-powered ones. This will also ensure that you won’t run out of battery — as long as there is enough sun to charge them up.

 

One luxury that’s harder to come by with camping is a shower. Though you can usually manage to get clean enough by jumping into a lake or river, or at the very least using a bit of bottled water to freshen up, nothing is as refreshing or relaxing as a warm shower. Luckily, some major outdoor brands make portable, solar-powered showers. Getting one of these will let you stay warm, clean, and environmentally friendly.

 

There are many other solar-powered gadgets available for camping, like coolers, chargers, speakers, and even generators. With all of these great options, you can have a completely eco-friendly camping trip. To keep all of your solar-powered objects safe, remember to store them properly, away from rain and dirt, in organized containers.

Energy Conservation and Vehicles

For those who want to bring more than a few luxuries with them, camping in an RV, camper, or trailer is the obvious answer for camping in comfort. However, such large vehicles can cause even more pollution than regular vehicles, especially if they use diesel rather than gasoline.  Luckily, there are also many alternatives for cleaner energy for such vehicles.

 

For example, you can also turn your RV engine into a hybrid by having some components powered by the sun, or you can convert the engine to run on used fryer oil. Portable solar energy sources can allow you to utilize all of an RV’s resources — furnace, air conditioner, refrigerator, lights, water pumps, and more — without having to use a polluting generator.

 

An additional consideration for sustainable camping is to remember about the energy use at your own house while you are away. Even while you are gone, all the devices in your home can unnecessarily keep using energy. To make sure your home stays energy efficient while you’re away, keep the following guidelines in mind:

 

• Turn off your air conditioning/heating.
• In summer, turn off the circuit breaker to the water heater.
• In winter, leave the water heater on the lowest setting to prevent frozen pipes.
• Unplug all electronics.
• Use automatic lights to turn on at night.
• Lower blinds and curtains.
• Set the fridge to 42 degrees Fahrenheit, the freezer to 5 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

All of these tips will not only help you conserve your carbon footprint while you head into the wild, but they will also help you save a bit of money. Other tips to help you minimize your environmental harm include packing minimally, bringing out as little trash with you as possible, and disconnecting from technology as much as your level of luxury allows.