Helloooo people !
I am assuming as we all have chosen to live a moveable lifestyle to explore our planet that we are all passionate about caring for said planet and ensuring our footprints are as green and minimal as possible, even on the road…
I am asking for ANY TIPS to ensure green build of the van, green lifestyle (I.e bamboo cutlery etc) and generally reducing your footprint (I.e planting trees along the way …)
Greetings & Welcome!
While I applaud your efforts, and try to do the same, I’m afraid that the majority of the new vandweller crowd has very different reasons, as well as very different behavior. Many of the newbies are deadbeats who don’t want to work, and druggies trashing the world and our reputations. People who would rather lie, cheat, steal, and beg rather than do an honest days work. These people are disgusting and cleaning up after them is a full time job.
It’s no wonder there are so many laws getting passed against us, because the respectable vandwellers are quickly being outnumbered by the low lifes. People who feel entitled to enjoy everything that society has to offer, without ever contributing to it. Just ME ME ME, & TAKE TAKE TAKE. They trash our cities, and our public lands. Just look what they’ve accomplished trashing public lands in the few short days of the government shutdown. I’m ashamed to be associated with such human trash.
There’s lots of us good, honest, hard working or retired, full timers out here, trying to make the world a better place, but for the most part we’re invisible because we’re not up to no good. Hopefully we can turn the tide, but we need to stop the promoters who push this as a lifestyle of mostly play, with little or no work required.
No “builds” are as green as buying a used already outfitted rig. If building your own, a cheap, modular, simple build is probably the greenest. I recycled used household furniture and used camping gear for almost everything. My total conversion cost was under $300, and that was for a full featured camper van including a toilet & shower. Even my batteries come from junk yards. Recycle, reuse, and repurpose. Start with a window van, where you can just remove the rear seats and keep the floor, walls, and ceiling intact. With opening windows, you don’t need expensive roof vents. A $20 isolator will charge your house battery better than $1,000 worth of solar. An ice chest is far greener than a powered fridge. You get the idea…
As for a green lifestyle I guess we can keep cleaning up after ourselves, and others, and always give more back than we take. I’ve always felt that working full time was contributing to the betterment of society, and helping the homeless, the elderly, or anyone less fortunate, has always been a priority to me. I don’t know about green, but it gives purpose and fulfillment to my life. 
Cheers!
As an Earth lover, here are some tips:
Better to use reusable bottles instead of plastic bottles while traveling
Grow a new planet before traveling for a new trip each time
Better to have local food to decrease the ratio of shipping because both ships and planes consume natural resources. Planes also emit a number of carbon in atmosphere
Good to stay at green hotels to encourage their efforts
Don’t use too much wood to have camp fire activities
Consume less amount of water.
If you have more then I am here to listen. 