Slow and sustainable travel with Temwa

We’re big believers in slow, sustainable travel.

The sort where you stay an extra night because the beach is too good to leave, walk into town instead of moving the van and discover that the tiny bakery you nearly drove past was actually the highlight of the trip.

But while travelling closer to home and slowing things down can help us make more thoughtful choices, campervan adventures still have a carbon footprint.

We don’t want to pretend otherwise.

That’s why we work with Temwa Carbon Balance to carbon offset every mile driven in a Quirky Camper.

And so far, our partnership has helped plant 18,130 trees.

That’s quite a lot of trees.

In fact, if you planted one every single day, you’d be at it for almost 50 years.

But the thing we really love about Temwa is that the story goes far beyond the number of trees in the ground.

How carbon offsetting works with Quirky Campers

Every mile travelled in one of our handcrafted campervans is carbon offset through our work with Temwa.

That happens as part of what we do at Quirky Campers, so you don’t need to tick a box or pay extra for your mileage to be included.

But if you’d like to go a little further, you can.

When you make a booking, you’ll also see an optional carbon offset add-on. You can choose to contribute towards three trees for £4.50 or six trees for £7.50.

It’s a small extra that helps support even more of Temwa’s work, and means your next road trip can leave a few more roots behind.

So, what does Temwa actually do?

Temwa Carbon Balance works with communities in Nkhata Bay North in northern Malawi, where many people depend on the land for farming and their livelihoods.

The effects of climate change, from unpredictable rainfall to drought and flooding, can have a huge impact on crops, soil, forests and food security.

Temwa’s approach is community-led.

Rather than deciding from afar what should be planted and where, they work alongside local farmers and communities who understand their land, what it needs and what will work in the long term.

That means tree planting can take different forms depending on the area, from restoring woodland to planting on farms and creating orchards.

And importantly, it doesn’t end once the tree is in the ground.

Because planting a tree is the easy bit.

Helping it thrive for years to come is where the real work happens.

More than 18,130 trees

We’re incredibly proud that our work with Temwa has now helped plant 18,130 trees.

But counting trees only tells part of the story.

Temwa’s work also includes sustainable agriculture, forest protection and helping communities develop ways of earning a living that don’t rely on cutting forests down.

Trees can help protect and improve soil, reduce erosion, support food production and create healthier habitats for wildlife.

Temwa also supports forest-friendly livelihoods such as beekeeping, helping make standing forests valuable to the people living alongside them.

So when we say 18,130 trees, what we’re really talking about is something much bigger.

Healthier land. Protected forests. Greater biodiversity. More resilient farming. And communities having a say in how their environment is cared for.

Not bad for a few campervan adventures.

A partnership with roots

Our connection with Temwa actually goes back further than our Carbon Balance partnership.

In Temwa’s early days, Quirky Campers co-founder Lindsay Berresford supported the charity through fundraising gigs with her band, Little Stampede.

So when we later began looking at how we could take greater responsibility for the carbon emissions created by Quirky Camper adventures, there was already a shared history.

In 2023, Quirky Campers officially joined forces with Temwa Carbon Balance.

For us, it was important to work with an organisation where we could see what our contribution was supporting and where the impact went beyond carbon alone.

Temwa’s community-led approach made that a natural fit.

Offsetting is only part of the journey

Carbon offsetting doesn’t mean we can forget about reducing emissions in the first place.

We’d much rather encourage a slower way to explore too.

You don’t need to cross half the country to have a brilliant campervan holiday. With Quirky Campers dotted all over the UK, you can hire closer to home, choose one beautiful patch of the map and actually give yourself time to explore it.

Stay for three nights instead of one.

Leave the camper parked and wander into town.

Take the bikes.

Walk to the beach.

Buy tonight’s dinner from the farm shop down the road.

Spend more of your holiday looking at the view and less of it looking at the back of the car in front.

Travel slower, tread lighter

For us, sustainable campervan travel isn’t about pretending every adventure is impact-free.

It’s about making better choices where we can and taking responsibility for the impact that remains.

We carbon offset every mile driven in a Quirky Camper through our partnership with Temwa. And for anyone who wants to contribute a little more, there’s the option to add another three or six trees when booking.

Then there are the choices we all make once we’re out there.

Travelling fewer miles. Staying longer. Exploring on foot. Supporting local businesses. Taking the scenic route instead of racing to the next pin on the map.

And those 18,130 trees and counting?

They’re a pretty lovely reminder that thousands of adventures here in the UK can help support something much bigger elsewhere.

So stay another night.

Walk to the beach.

Let the camper stay in the campsite while you explore locally.

And when you’re ready for your next slower adventure, find your Quirky Camper.

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