There were dark clouds as far as the eye could see, and the kids were entertaining themselves in the back seat by counting the seconds between the flashes of lightning and the rumbling of thunder.

We were on a car ferry crossing Lake Champlain from New York state to Vermont, our van crammed with sleeping bags, pillows, stickers, marshmallows and a tricycle — all ready for our first camping trip of the summer, while Mother Nature put on a light and water show for us.

Luckily, the forecasters were wrong and what was supposed to be a rain-soaked weekend turned out to be sunny and warm, giving us a chance to try to camp in an environmentally friendly way. It started with requesting adjoining sites with the other family we were camping with. That meant one campfire for all of us, instead of two separate ones emitting wood smoke — with its fine particulate matter and other pollutants — into the air.

For kindling, we left branches on the trees and instead the men channelled their inner Daniel Boones and chopped firewood into smaller pieces, and rolled up old newspapers into logs to get the fire going. When camping, use the site’s fire pit to build your fire, and don’t burn garbage in your fire.

Speaking of garbage, even though you’re away from home, you can still sort your trash. Divide your waste into recyclables, garbage and compostables, if there is composting on site, or if you compost at home.

Most campgrounds offer garbage and recycling collection, and some also have composting facilities. If you’re bringing your compostable waste home, we’ve learned to designate a sealed container or a Ziploc-style bag to hold it and thus keep the smell contained.

You can make green camping choices before you even leave home. Second-hand gear can be picked up at garage sales, on Craigslist or by checking out Mountain Equipment Co-op’s online gear swap service. If you’re a first-time camper, try to borrow camping equipment to see whether you like living in the great outdoors before you invest in your own gear.

When we camp, it seems like we eat, clean up and then get ready to eat again.

You can cut down on waste by buying food in bulk at home, and then repackaging it into smaller containers to take camping. We do that with GORP (good old raisins and peanuts), by buying large bags of almonds, pretzels, raisins and chocolate chips and then mixing it all in small reusable containers to take with us. You can put peanut butter, cereal, sugar, cocoa, salt, pepper, olive oil and other food into small containers and bring them to the campsite with you.

We made pesto and grated parmesan cheese ahead of time to mix with pasta. You can preboil potatoes or precook other food at home. Since our electricity comes mainly from hydroelectric sources, that’s less polluting than cooking things up on propane-fired camping stoves at the campsite.

You can buy roasting sticks or roasting forks to use — and reuse, and reuse — for toasting marshmallows or cooking hot dogs over the fire.

Use real dishes, cups, cutlery and other cooking utensils, instead of disposable ones, to cut down on your waste. You can buy those items and leave them in your camping gear, or just use sturdy dishes, mugs and cutlery from home for your camping trips. While you’re at it, bring real napkins, dish cloths and dish towels to use at the site instead of paper towels and napkins. The linens can all be washed when you get home.

On the topic of washing, choose biodegradable and phosphate-free soap to wash your dishes and yourself. My sister collects rainwater in her rain barrel at home and then transfers it to water containers to bring along for dish washing. If that’s too hard core, reuse the water from the melted ice in your cooler to wash your dishes.

As for water, there’s no need to buy bottled water for camping. You can pick up large water containers at hardware and camping stores that you can fill ahead of time and bring with you.

Just refill it with clean drinking water at the campground, and remember to bring your reusable water bottles to use for your drinking water if you head out on day trips, to the beach or to go fishing.