kristy halvorsen’s on-the-road setup. (photo courtesy kristy halvorsen)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nkristy halvorsen, 42, had lived in florida her whole life. while working as a firefighter-paramedic in 2015, she had a dream of traveling the world. not wanting to wait until retirement for her adventure, she created a five-year plan to downsize her home and move into an airstream full-time.<\/p>\n
then, one year into the plan, \u201ci just suddenly realized we don\u2019t have to plan everything and life kinda has our backs and we can be more in the moment,\u201d halvorsen said. her vision ended up only taking two years before she was out on the road. <\/p>\n
her portable home attaches to her truck and lets halvorsen to stay at national parks, campgrounds, and friends’ driveways. this lifestyle allows her to lower her water and electricity use and her total cost of living. halvorsen also had solar panels installed on her trailer to give her power when off-grid. she\u2019s since realized, \u201ci don\u2019t need more than the sun gives me…it almost forces you to be more cognizant and more conservative.\u201d her trailer holds just 60 gallons of water \u2014 but that lasts her, one person, about three weeks. <\/p>\n
\u201ci\u2019m a drop in the bucket. i\u2019m sure there\u2019s many more people living like me out there. the more there are, the less impact we have, the smaller the footprint,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cone of the biggest things i\u2019ve seen in the journey is we need so much less than we think,\u201d she said. through her time on the road and her new habits, halvorsen has noticed just how much stuff we buy \u2014 whether from the grocery store, shopping, or even buying souvenirs on vacation. she said she wishes she could cut her already tiny closet in half, but admits it\u2019s hard to get over the very human worry that we might \u201cneed it someday.\u201d <\/p>\n
halvorsen acknowledges that this lifestyle isn\u2019t for everyone, but encourages even those who aren\u2019t living on the road to aim for a more gentle footprint. now in her third year living full-time in the airstream, she has become so close to nature and says, \u201c(i) don\u2019t want to waste things; hurts my soul.\u201d <\/p>\n
**<\/p>\nthe mcmanuses pose for a portrait on their boat, free spirit 2, docked at the capital yacht club in washington, d.c. (arielle bader\/george washington university)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nkaren mcmanus, 62, and rich mcmanus, 68, haven\u2019t lived on land for the past five years. quite literally, their home is on the water, in a sailboat with 300 square feet of living space. they moved to their energy-efficient boat, named free spirit 2, to travel during their early retirement. this new living situation quickly taught them to reevaluate the way they used their space, what they owned, and how they used electricity and gasoline. <\/p>\n
free spirit 2 provides the mcmanus\u2019 an environmentally friendly way to travel and is a more affordable way to live in pricey washington, d.c. the sailboat has solar panels which provide most of the power they use, with the option to run a generator for air conditioning. karen mcmanus says, \u201cit\u2019s not like an apartment where you can just flip a light switch.\u201d on cloudy days she says they are especially cautious of their usage. <\/p>\n
with limited living and storage space on their boat, prior to moving the couple got rid of an entire closet of clothes and donated extra kitchen supplies. they\u2019ve since even switched to e-books over physical copies. (they quickly become damp and moldy on a boat.) but their life on the water also has been cheaper in a few ways for them. the daily cost of living, including boat slip fees, are relatively cheap. but maintaining a boat and doing repairs can add up fast. <\/p>\n
mcmanus said living on a boat leads you to become more aware of your environment, since there\u2019s no escaping the weather changes. she stays very attuned to how the weather and seasons change \u2014 and how they impact the tide. mcmanus said she and her husband enjoy living at a marina, and have met people from many different walks of life. <\/p>\n
she says she also has become more mindful of how much waste ends up in our waterways. \u201chow much trash i have picked up out of the ocean, made me very aware of our society\u2019s use of plastic. also, no longer a fan of helium balloons,\u201d which she said she\u2019s found miles offshore floating in the ocean. <\/p>\n
**<\/p>\n
in almost every facet of life, people can make product or lifestyle switches that are better for the planet. from changing the place you call home to not eating animal products, buying reusable products, shopping for sustainable clothes, actively protesting, picking up trash, and more. the more people that make these smaller-scale changes, the bigger the positive trend that can result. as halvorsen said, it\u2019s all \u201ca drop in the bucket\u201d toward a livable future. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
who says that individuals can\u2019t make a positive change right in their own communities? three women share their journeys to living a more sustainable lifestyle. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9938,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4905,5196],"tags":[4533,4534,144,233,591,3360,3563],"storyfest_categories":[],"class_list":["post-11333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adaptation","category-past-storyfest","tag-airstream","tag-boat-living","tag-climate-change","tag-reusable","tag-storyfest","tag-sustainable-living","tag-zero-waste"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
ways to live an environmentally conscious lifestyle - planet forward<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n