The Loop Crew

Martin Johnson from Green Fuels NZ is supplying us with the biodiesel for the journey and shipping it to pre-arranged locations as we travel. Green Fuels manufactures its Biogold™ branded biodiesel in Christchurch and it is made from 100% recycled vegetable oil. It is sold throughout New Zealand. Biogold™ is a renewable, environmentally-friendly fuel that can directly replace conventional petroleum diesel and will result in substantial reductions in our tailpipe emissions and our carbon footprint. We will be aiming to run the bus on at least a 60% blend of Biogold, to use 100% Biogold to run our cooking, water and space heating and to give fellow NZMCA members the opportunity to trial Biogold™ in their own vehicles. The Biogold gifted by Green Fuels to the NZMCA’s 2016 Easter Rally saw members emissions reduced by more than 1 tonne.

The dream of driving our electric car on sunshine and being completely off grid in the Loop Bus would not have been possible without Nigel Chang’s advise and guidance around batteries. Two AGM deep cycle Century Yuasa batteries weighing in at 74 kgs each with a over sized cable running to an inverter has realised our sunshine dream. Simple and smart. The batteries have the added advantage of being 98% recyclable and Century Yuasa will take them back at end of life. Century Yuasa are also committed to environmental initiatives to offset their vehicle emissions through tree planting. Thanks for the freedom Mr Chang!

Gerard Richardson of Polymer Fabricated Products 2009 Ltd was able to maximise our fresh and waste water tanks by custom building them out of plastic off-cuts from his polyethylene extrusion welding business. It has amazed us to find people in the most unlikely of places sharing the same concerns around sustainability. Gerard has a vast knowledge of plastic life-cycle and  fabrication. Plastic  can do so much good when managed appropriately and kept within the techno-sphere. Gerard takes plastic disposal seriously as he enjoys fishing and has concerns around it entering the biosphere. Gerard gifted us  a custom worm farm of his own design giving us the ability to turn our vege scraps and Natures Head solids into a nutritious soil conditioner.

Sam West is the heart and soul of Motorhome Repairs Auckland ltd. When we were ready to push go on the sustainable makeover of our recently purchased 1978 0305 Mercedes we were lucky enough to find Sam. Complete luck as it happens as Sam had recently purchased Andy’s Motorhomes with the idea of bringing the old business into the 21st century with a sustainability makeover of its own. Sam West is 21 years old but don’t let that throw you, he has surrounded himself with the wisdom of the industries elders and employs the energy of the youth. The Loop Crew were set to work along with the rest of Sam’s team pulling the whole Job off within hours of the Covi Show Launch. Sam is an NZMCA member and loves motorhoming and motorhomers he’s all about getting them back on the road.

Cam’s work car was a 100% Electric Nissan Leaf and we wanted another one. We shopped around alot from car yard to to importers. When we found David Lees from Volt Vehicles we knew we had a fit. David was as technically savvy and connected as our other partners and we knew when we bought a car from him, he and his knowledge and connections would only be a phone call away. We discussed in depth towing verses driving and calculated for the price of a tow bar and dolly trailer we could drive to the moon. Our Leaf was a Japanese import with 9000 ks on the clock and cost us 23k. 

Nick Savaidis is the founder and driving force behind Fairtrade Award winner Etiko. When the Loop Crew started down the path of sustainability we questioned all the businesses we were voting for by purchasing from them. Shoes…no worries just off to the shoe shop to get the most sustainable ones, you know that do no harm to people and planet…NONE!! Not one pair of shoes in NZ  do not either use child labour or border line slave labour or mix technosphere and biosphere creating toxic land fill. Hang on this is clean green NZ I’m talking about. Thankfully Nick had already been down this path in Australia and created Etiko which means the Loop Crew can proudly and comfortably protect our feet with shoes that employ people at a decent wage and they are also made completely from the biosphere so at the end of life Mother nature can break them down, yes it takes a long time but it does not produce toxic waste!

We wanted a top loading fridge and freezer to stop the cold air from falling on our feet every time we open the door which wastes energy and spoils food through fluctuating temperatures. Greg and Sharon Knight from Fridgetech Marine & Outdoors supplied us with 12v  Isotherm units. Greg  worked with our unusual installation request to relocate the warm fridge / freezer compressors to utilise their heat energy under the bathroom floor. With having no LPG gas supply on-board Fridgetech have also provided us with additional smart controllers to further decrease our energy consumption. Greg stands behind his products and customers by supplying service, technical education, reliable products and access to replacement parts which results in less waste and longevity. He even let us park up overnight outside his workshop while he and his team worked on a last minute adjustment to the installation before we left Auckland.

We would like the Loop Bus to be palm oil free. Palm oil is hidden in over 50% of packaged items in our supermarkets and is produced by unsustainable business practices which are wiping out rainforest, orangutans, tigers, rhinos etc in Indonesia. We use the Auckland Zoo’s palm oil free shopping guide to avoid products (readily available and unlabelled here in NZ) and have been handing out the guide as we travel. You can use your purchase power to keep the rainforests, search: Auckland Zoo Palm Oil Freeand Shopping Guide. The kids at Levin School were very keen to know exactly how to detect palm oil so they could save orangutan the next time they went grocery shopping with their parents!!

The Loop Crew is made up of not only the Sturrock Family, Campbell, Nikki, Bracken, Breeze and Reef and our partners but of the huge number of people getting on board as The Loop bus travels around the country. We have had the great privilege of being visited by over 1600 people so far. Everywhere we stop whether it be outside the supermarket or at a beach people are turning up wanting to know about sustainability and have a story to tell. We are so proud to be a part of what some people are saying is the Great Turning and technology for the greater good is at the forefront of this new vision.