5 Inexpensive Sustainability Tips for Vacation Rentals
Sustainability Tips for Short-Term Rentals
Caring for the environment was once considered a niche concern, but now, sustainability is becoming mainstream, with more people seeking greener lifestyles. Since travel is one of the most carbon-intensive activities, many are looking for ways to make their trips more eco-friendly. For short-term rental owners, this presents a great opportunity. By making your rental more sustainable and promoting its green features, you can attract a new audience of environmentally-conscious travelers.
In today’s article, we’ll go over a few tips to make your vacation rental more sustainable to attract a whole new green-loving audience of guests.
#1: Look For Ways to Cut Down on Water Wastage
Water wastage is rampant in short-term rentals. From the amount of laundry that needs to be done after each guest departs to the amount of water wasted every time a guest flushes a toilet or takes a long hot shower, there are plenty of ways to become more environmentally friendly with your water usage.
One easy way to conserve water is to install low-flow toilets, faucets, and showerheads in your vacation rental. This is a fairly low-cost solution that not only will save you money in water bills, but it’s also much better for the planet as well.
Landscaping is another big water waster and installing smart irrigation systems or sprinkler systems can help you to cut down on the amount of water that your rental is going through on a regular basis. If you want to go the extra mile and live in an area with a lot of rain, installing a rain harvesting system is another great idea for cutting down on water wastage and lowering your water bill.
#2: Cut Down on Waste with Equipment and Activity Rentals
Checking luggage is incredibly expensive these days, so a lot of guests wait until they get to their destination to purchase equipment they’ll utilize during their stay. However, much of this equipment is thrown away after being used only once or twice, as most people will not pack large items like this in their luggage to fly back home with.
To cut down on this wasteful habit, offer equipment and activity rentals to your guests. Whether you have bicycles, cross country skis, inflatable inner tubes, lawn darts, bocce ball, or other activity equipment, offer these up to your guests for a small fee rather than allowing them to purchase these items themselves. The benefits to this strategy are twofold–not only will your guests appreciate you offering them this service and saving them money, but you’ll also cut down on the waste that would come from guests just using the equipment once and throwing it away.
#3: Search for Energy-Efficient Options Whenever Possible
Saving energy is of extreme importance when you’re looking to upgrade the sustainability of your vacation rental. Not only is it better for the environment to use less energy, you’ll save money and you can boast to your guests that you’re utilizing sustainable strategies in running your short-term rental business.
Try this: the next time that something breaks in your rental, search for an energy-efficient replacement. From energy-saving lighting to energy-efficient appliances to smart air conditioning and heating, there’s so many options available to help your rental become more sustainable, and many of them are not much more expensive than their energy-inefficient counterparts.
#4: Get to Know Your Local Recycling Plant and Give Your Guests the Option to Recycle
Another easy way to become a more sustainable vacation rental owner is to recycle. Form a relationship with your local recycling plant if possible and let your guests know the process to separate materials and throw them away properly. In some areas, you won’t even have to pay to recycle, but expect to pay a small fee each month for recycling services in most cases.
Although there are pros and cons to recycling, it’s overall better for the environment to utilize materials over and over rather than letting them rot away in a landfill. Plus, your guests will appreciate the effort that you put into sustainability for your rental, and most guests will be compliant with throwing recyclable materials away in their proper place.
#5: Cut Down on Single-Use Items Whenever Possible
Our final inexpensive tip for making your short-term rental business more sustainable is to try to reduce your usage of single-use plastic items.
This is a simple and easy change to make–all it requires is that rather than purchasing small travel bottles of shampoo and conditioner, purchase reusable bottles and refill those with your shampoo, conditioner, soap, and other shower items.
While it’s hard to cut down on single-use items entirely, you’ll be able to purchase in bulk and refill one container, saving tons of room in the landfill. Your guests will appreciate these small gestures as well, so be sure to mention it in your listing description.
Discover More Ways to Become a Better Vacation Rental Owner
Adding more sustainable practices into your short-term rental business is not just a way of attracting more guests, but it’s also great for saving you money. From cutting down on single-use plastics to installing more energy-efficient appliances and lighting to eliminating water wastage, there are quite a few inexpensive ways to make your rental a more sustainable place overall.
If you want to learn more about becoming a better vacation rental owner, take a look at some of our other blogs, like our guide to staying compliant with accessibility regulations or our tips for handling difficult Airbnb guests.