Tips for sustainable camping

Our five tips on how you can make your camping vacation more sustainable

Hey!

My name is Johanna and I am a passionate camper with bumblebees in my butt and always ready for a new trip. In this article, I would like to talk about a topic that is particularly close to my heart - How can we make our camping vacation more sustainable?

A few years ago, I radically changed my household in order to make it as sustainable as possible. I couldn't keep some things the way I wanted to, but many things have become part of our everyday life. When it came to travel, I naturally asked myself the same question: what can we do to keep our ecological footprint as small as possible on vacation?

Camping in itself is already much more environmentally friendly than, for example, a long-distance trip or a cruise. Even when staying in a hotel, people underestimate how many resources are consumed. Nevertheless, I think it's important to always think about camping and remain mindful - after all, we all want to enjoy the wonderful nature we love to travel through for a long time to come.

Here are my 5 tips that you can easily follow on vacation to make your vacation a little more sustainable:

1st tip for more sustainability when camping: leave the car behind sometimes

Especially with a van, it's easy to be tempted to use your own car for day trips. However, public transport is usually available, especially in vacation regions. Before you get behind the wheel yourself, find out about the options at the campsite or online.

We have often had very positive experiences. Especially when it comes to parking, it can be stressful and expensive if you are traveling with a large car. You also save a lot of time if you don't have to get the car ready to drive off and then get it ready to sleep again.

If the routes are short, you can also use a bicycle. Many campsites offer bike hire. There may also be a little adventure hidden here.

2nd tip for more sustainability when camping: save resources

You can also take advantage of various opportunities to make your vacation more sustainable at the campsite.

To save water, a very important resource, you should limit your shower time to the bare minimum. You can also turn off the tap when rinsing and brushing your teeth.

When it comes to electricity, solar cells are a good option. If you have an electrically powered air conditioning system in your vehicle, you should use it carefully. In general, you can rely on energy-saving lighting with LEDs.

3rd tip for more sustainability when camping: avoid/separate waste

Not only at home, but also on vacation, it should be established that you should use products with as little packaging as possible when shopping. I often find it frightening how quickly the garbage cans at campsites overflow. I know that waste cannot be completely avoided, but then it is all the more important to dispose of the resulting waste correctly.

All the campsites we've been to in recent years had a clear waste separation system. Now it's up to us to implement this accordingly.

Especially in countries without a deposit system, I keep noticing how garbage cans are full of PET bottles. Find out here where you can perhaps fill up large canisters with drinking water, which you can then fill into stainless steel bottles.

Some campsites and beach restaurants now offer the opportunity to refill your water bottles for a small fee at the pumps. 

4th tip for more sustainability when camping: use environmentally friendly products

In my opinion, this point is the easiest to implement. There are now so many sustainable and environmentally friendly products that you just have to buy them.

For example, sunscreen without microplastics etc., dishwashing detergent and washing powder with environmentally friendly ingredients, cotton or bamboo dishcloths, wooden dishwashing brushes and much more.

You can also fill the toilet tank on board with sustainable cleaning agents instead of chemicals. Here I would recommend simply testing a little and adjusting the dosage instead of throwing in the towel too quickly and resorting to toxic chemicals again. Or even better: go straight for the tried and tested dry separation toilet.

I don't think we need to go into much detail about disposable barbecues and chemical barbecue lighters. Instead of a lighter, an old egg carton is not only good for the environment but also for your wallet.

5th tip for more sustainability when camping: visit environmentally friendly campsites

You can also pay attention to sustainability when choosing a campsite. As this topic is (fortunately) becoming more and more present, campsite operators are focusing on sustainable and efficient energy generation through solar or resource-saving measures. Examples of this are: an environmentally friendly design of the campsite, waste separation, offering bicycle rental, conscientious use of water, use of environmentally friendly cleaning agents, ... .

One of the best-known labels for sustainable campsites is awarded by the „Ecocamping“. For more than 25 years, they have been advising and supporting campsites on their way to greater sustainability. 

What are your tips for sustainable camping?
Let us know in the comments under the social media post. 

Have a great vacation, Johanna.

And by the way:
VanEssa mobilcamping also always pays attention to sustainability. We try to work as resource-efficiently as possible during production. Wood waste is used here to generate energy.

Our Panniers for the windows of the vans are produced by VAUDE and we are very happy about this collaboration. Here, too, attention is paid to sustainable and fair production, so that the company has even been awarded the German Sustainability Award 2024 has won.

You can also find the ten most environmentally friendly campsites in Germany from PinCamp here.