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The demand from travellers to provide a sustainable, eco-friendly holiday experience is ever-growing. So it’s no surprise that Airbnb owners and those that manage holiday rentals are looking for ways to make their Airbnb a greener place to stay.
8 minutes to read
According to the Airbnb website itself, over 88% of hosts now incorporate green practices into hosting.
If you’re an Airbnb host, you’re already onto an eco winner – home-sharing uses less water on average than during a standard hotel stay. Add in the fact that staying in a self-catering property puts guests more in control of their own sustainable choices. By staying in a holiday let rather than a hotel, people are able to choose where they shop, what happens to their waste and what resources are consumed during their stay.
So where do you start when it comes to making your Airbnb property more eco-friendly? There are many options to implement, some are more obvious and others less so. In this article we’ve covered some easy ideas, some more involved ones and some eco Airbnb ideas that real-life hosts have implemented in their own properties.
If you’re looking for some quick and relatively easy eco Airbnb ideas, we’ve got you covered. Here are our favourite ways to make your Airbnb property greener and more attractive to increasingly eco-savvy travellers:
If you already feel like you’ve gone to some lengths to make your Airbnb property more eco-friendly, these more “advanced” ideas can help you step it up a notch:
When it comes to making sure your future guests know all about the efforts you’ve made to make your Airbnb property as eco-friendly as possible, communication is key.
A lot of people skim-read before shortlisting, so make sure that the green section of your listing is really prominent – perhaps separated by a heading, or written as a bullet-pointed list to draw attention to it. Your efforts deserve to be shouted about!
It may also be a good idea to tell people the journey you’re on towards becoming even more eco-friendly as an Airbnb host. Demonstrating you have goals, as well as showcasing what you’ve already done shows a commitment to the long-term “green-ness” of your property, rather than just a box-ticking exercise.
When your guests arrive, make sure any information they need is clearly laid out in a manual – including recycling details, and what’s provided in the cupboards to help them have as green a stay as possible.
We spoke to some Airbnb hosts who have already taken measures to make their properties more eco-friendly, so you can take inspiration from people who know what it’s like running a holiday rental property.
Amber Leach, who owns and runs an Airbnb apartment in Plymouth, Devon says “We use eco-friendly products for our guests as well as green cleaning products. We shop locally for the milk, bread, and chocolates that we give our guests. We also try to buy second-hand furniture where we can. We encourage our guests to use public transport and offer free collections from local bus and coach stations. We also wash on the eco setting on the washing machine and air dry the washing when we can.”
Amber’s eco-friendly Plymouth Airbnb
Jade Bartholomew runs an Airbnb property in Essex alongside her SEO agency. She says “I think it’s important that as hosts, we consider the disposable nature of a one-night stay. For example, we use dryer balls in the wash, instead of laundry sheets, which can save time (10-15 minutes per load!) and save on energy consumption – especially when you have back-to-back bookings!”
Jade also understands that those homely touches make all the difference for her visitors: “Guests expect little touches, it gives them a home from home. Often, this would include plastic cotton buds, or miniature, plastic shampoo and conditioner. We provide our guests with vegan-friendly soap, shampoo, and conditioner, which I take to a local store to top up! Plus, they smell way better than those chemical ones!”
Charlotte Simmonds owns a flat near the beaches of Bournemouth. She’s made a huge effort to make sure the property is as eco-friendly as possible.
Charlotte’s list of changes she’s made in her property includes:
Bethnal and Bec, a cluster of luxury self-catering studios in Hertfordshire is run by Vicky and Chris Saynor. Not content with simply being more eco-friendly with their holiday rental business, the couple embodies what running a sustainable business really means.
In 2021, they were nominated in the National Recycling Awards for Recycling Excellence, as well as embracing hot composting, hosting a colony of bumblebees in their on-site bumblebee villa, and so much more. The way they communicate the efforts they’ve made is exceptional too, with the property’s website having its own dedicated sustainability page.
One of Bethnal & Bec’s gorgeous sustainable studios
Do you run an Airbnb property or holiday rental that has some super-green credentials? Or maybe you’ve visited somewhere that has impressed you with its sustainable efforts. We’re always on the lookout for more ideas (and places to add to our holiday to-visit list!), so please send your photos to us on Facebook or tag us on Instagram.
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