These days we’re all conscious of our impact on the environment. Staying in a self-contained campervan or motorhome if you’re wild camping, shopping locally and supporting environmentally friendly tourism are all ways you can help reduce your impact on the environment during your motorhome rental holiday. Also, be sure to rent a vehicle which has at the very minimum a Euro 4 engine (Euro 5 is even better).
Here are some other ways you can reduce your impact on the environment during your New Zealand motorhome rental holiday.
Environmentally friendly campervan driving
Drive your rental campervan at an appropriate speed. As well as being safer, staying at or within the speed limit reduces carbon dioxide emissions (and as a bonus it’ll save you money on fuel!).
Drive your motorhome smoothly in traffic. Everytime you stop then start, your campervan’s engine is using more fuel and hence producing more emissions. Watch the traffic ahead and if you see it slowing, gently lift your foot off the accelerate to gradually slow down rather than jamming on the brake.
Avoid traffic peak times in your campervan. If you’re driving in your campervan around cities, take care to avoid travelling in the peak hours (generally 7-9pm and 4-6pm). You’ll have a much smoother and more fuel-efficient trip and it’ll be less stressful too!
Don’t over rev your motorhome. Revving like Michael Schumacher before the start of a race will just waste fuel and produce harmful emissions as well as placing unnecessary strain on your motorhome’s engine.
Check your campervan’s tyres are inflated. Under inflated tyres cause more resistance which means more fuel is used (producing more emissions) because the engine is working harder. Make sure you regularly check the pressure of your rental motorhome’s tyres and adjust them if necessary.
Don’t leave your motorhome engine running. Your motorhome is wasting fuel and producing unnecessary emissions when you idle (leave the engine running). If you’re going to be stopped for more than three minutes, switch off the engine. Of course, you can definitely be idle once you’re stopped at your campsite – relaxing and being lazy is all part of the fun of a campervan holiday!
Use your campervan’s air conditioner wisely. If you’re driving under 80 km per hour, it’s more fuel efficient to have the window open than the air conditioner on (over this speed, however, the air conditioner is better). Set it on low rather than high if possible.
Read the Wilderness Environmental Care Code
We’d love to hear your suggestions for environmentally friendly campervan holiday tips. Send us an email or post your suggestions on our Facebook page.