On the same note as the 4 cyl sprinter, we have a 4 cyl 3 ton Hino diesel used for deliveries for the family business. I always found it to get better mileage than the Ranger I used to have, with a wicked view from the cab over wheel configuation. It also got more respect on the road. Definately enough room for all your gear plus a dry camping area in the box. Heck just throw your actual bed and couch in the box and you are set for a vacation. You can find them quite cheap, and they regularly run up to a million+ km's.

Thought I would bump this thread, just watched PBS Journey to Planet Earth, initially seriously depressing in the end very much motivating. Stellar display of, agreed, a one-side argument (but are many really still arguing the other side? ) to turn this planet slide into oblivion around.

It reminded me of our current provincial government's support for the coal burning power plants, how embarrassing is that and of course the ongoing incredible nasty scar-on-a-nation of the tar sands....the ever increasing plastic packaging all of our food comes in ...the now radioactive particles flying around here all the way from stricken Japan

If you get a chance, watch it, I would like to hear your views. Pie in the sky solutions? I sure hope not.
http://www.pbs.org/journeytoplanetearth/

"Saving our planet is not a spectator sport"

Little ideas: Some of the perhaps ridiculous seeming things I now do on top of the recycling, cutting fuel use in home and on the road (yes, again the Kusshine is on the brink of propane conversion despite severely cutting its travels):

-stopped buying beer in cans and will only buy it filled in washable bottles from local Northwest breweries (I am informed that screw tops are usually washed and re-used, the rest destroyed, Phillips just switched a while back, whew!)
-shredding all leaves for mulch instead of having them hauled away
-expanding my vegetable garden despite severely failing crops, man I need help
-endeavor to find a good place for a water cistern to collect more rainwater
-try to only purchase baked goods and fruit packaged in paper product...still...I cannot believe this problem has gotten worse
-ask for paper wrap for deli meats
-now use mushroom paper bags for other produce
-talked to my kids...all rolling eyes....again and again about their very personal responsibilities re: birth control, energy savings, recycling
-will purchase a cleaner burning wood airtight next winter
-ensure my holidays are over several weeks at the destination to avoid multiple trips to sailing destinations and will continue to sail locally whenever possible in perhaps less than ideal conditions (bye bye sea lions of CB)

THANKS TO OUR CRD AND OTHER DISTRICTS AND MUNICALITIES WHO ARE MAKING BOTTLED DRINKING WATER PRODUCTS HISTORY...... WAY TO GO!!!!

The Kusshine is actually not so un-environmental. The resources and energy that would have gone into a new RV is probably equivilant to tens of thousands of kilometers. Given the new one may only be slightly more fuel effiecient or nicer inside, it would take a heck of a lot of time to make up that difference. With a family in the Auto-repair industry it's just been getting tougher and tougher as people refuse to fix and instead buy new. Can't really blame them, $4000 repair up front on the CC @18.9% or $0 down $400/mo at 0% with new car smell - it's hard to say no. I hope conditions and perceptions change in the future where more people adopt the Kusshine idea, and keep fixing things as it is far more economical if you examine the big picture.

Sort of related to this:

When I drive in from the ferry terminal or past the malahat I still am baffled by the inventory the RV dealers keep, especially that massive lot at the Nanaimo Airport. Who the heck is buying that many RV's and how can they carry that kind of inventory!?!?!

nanmoo wrote:The Kusshine is actually not so un-environmental. The resources and energy that would have gone into a new RV is probably equivilant to tens of thousands of kilometers

yeah, it's still a gas pig, 23-27L/100km done all I can to it to improve, tune ups, K&N, headers, wax the paint don't even carry a spare tire to reduce weight and drag just a AAA card

BTW: all of you that recycle plastic, that's great but remember, likely none of the recycled plastic again makes it into the production line for most items....what you buy in plastic will be essentially plastic waste We don't use recycled plastic for a whole lot except crappy lumber that doesn't work, the odd car part, garbage bags and some construction (liners and plumbing) material....it ain't gonna make another milk container from a recycled one so try to buy non-plastic whenever possible

I thought they were banning the plastic shopping bags but they are still all over the place, what's up wit dat? A lot of the supposedly "biodegradable" just means they break down into smaller plastic bits, not actually break down into compost elements. Ask for paper

More on climate change:

<a href="/http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 ... 111901.htm" target="_blank"> Arctic Ocean has become less salty, more unstable, with potential in alterations in the world's ocean currents and flow of Gulf Stream </a>

Dr. Michael Karcher from the Alfred Wegener Institute, co-author of the study, simulated the observed processes using the NAOSIM coupled ocean/sea ice model. The model experiments make it possible to study longer periods, i.e. to map times for which no measurement data are available. The model also supplies important insights into the causes of the rising and falling freshwater content and points out the great significance of the local wind field. Measurements and the model additionally show that the changes in the Arctic freshwater content encompass far larger areas than assumed to date.

<a href="/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news ... easedwinds" target="_blank"> Winddoc's post on Earth Getting Mysteriously Windier </a> some interesting background reading on some global changes occurring.

quote, "If the winds keep up, they could impact "engineering design of coastal and offshore structures, coastal erosion, and marine ecosystems."

<a href="/http://www.stadtklima-stuttgart.de/inde ... wind_scale" target="_blank"> Beaufort Wind Scale, specs for sea and land </a>