Fresh Finds

1-800-Green-RVing

Leonardo DiCaprio would probably prefer to be remembered for his enviro documentary, 11th Hour, but to me, he'll always be Arnie Grape, standing on the side of a rural dirt road clapping gleefully as a convoy of Airstream trailers comes rumbling through town, in the movie What's Eating Gilbert Grape? I, too, love RVs. Gas-guzzling, greenhouse-gas-emitting eco scourges that they are, I can't help but marvel at their innate functionality. How great would my life be if, at the push of a button, my tiny Manhattan apartment could unfold into extra furniture, cook tops and additional storage space?

And wouldn't you know it...RVs, just like all the products in America it seems, are getting a green makeover. This is good news considering that the fuel economy of RVs ranges from a pitiful 6 mpg to 13 mpg. Montreal-based Verdier (www.verdier.ca) has redesigned the iconic Volkswagen Westfalia minibus, favored by our peace-loving, granola-munching brethren of the sixties, into a modern-day RV, complete with a hybrid gas-electric engine to power it on the road and solar panels on the roof to power all the cool whizbangs you need to operate while parked. Not only that, it comes outfitted with all the other features of a standard RV: doors that unfold into storage shelves, storage units that fold out into cooking ranges, couches that turn into beds and passenger seats that turn into stairs that lead up to said beds.

However, this Fresh Find doesn't come cheap--or quickly, for that matter. According to an article in "The Durango (CO) Herald," the first prototype will be touring the U.S. this summer, and soon after that, they'll go into production with an initial run of 1,000, 150 of which have already been sold (you can reserve yours now through Verdier). Speaking of price, the RVs are retailing for around $89,000--a little steep for Arnie's and my blood but definitely worthy of a little eco lust.

For more information, see www.verdier.ca.

© The Green Guide, 2008

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