Shortly before my partner retired from full time work we purchased a camper van. Not an unusual decision but one, like many, that reflected a fantasy. For the first few years we couldn't really get away in the way that we had imagined because my mother became increasingly unwell, had to be admitted to a care home and we had to deal with her home and possessions. While the van came in handy for dealing with her accumulated stuff along came the COVID pandemic and, what with one thing and another, the van spent most of its time sitting idly in our driveway. We then complicated things even more by getting a dog.
Long story short, the fixed costs of keeping the van (tax, insurance, necessary maintenance) simply don't justify the use we've been able to make of it and it's time that it was moved on.
However, as someone with more than a passing interest in the environment I know that a diesel powered van of a certain vintage is far from the cleanest vehicle on the road and that, in environmental terms, the best thing to do would be to simply scrap it. But, in as much as it is deemed roadworthy and still has residual value I'm loath to do this and have decided to sell it; but with a twist.
An old friend from my days assessing emission reduction schemes in developing countries is head of an Indian company that, among other things, gives improved cooking stoves to communities in Nigeria and Uganda and gets income from the emissions reductions that they produce. Not only do the stoves use less than a third of the wood that the traditional three stone systems they replace would have done but they also dramatically improve the air quality in the houses in which they are used. Persistent Climate
I have therefore decided to sell the van but use the proceeds to buy improved cooking stoves.
This way I can tell myself that while I've given in to the consumerist imperative to turn my unwanted goods into money I can pretend that the money will do more environmental good than the harm that the van will do if it keeps getting driven around.
