Make Your Vacation Rentals More Eco-Friendly: 8 Simple Tips
As a property manager, you’re always seeking ways to stand out from the competition. As today’s travellers are concerned about the environment and are more likely to care about sustainability, becoming more eco-friendly can make your property more appealing.
Eco-friendliness can help attract more guests and earn better ratings and reviews. Plus, you’ll benefit from lower energy bills, and can even earn some extra commission from your local sustainable businesses.
In this post, we will share some simple tips for making your property more eco-friendly, so you can increase your revenue and make guests feel great about their trip.
The benefits of being eco-friendly
Support Responsible Travel choices.
There are many reasons to embrace more sustainable practices in your vacation rental. Here are some of the benefits:
- Attract more bookings — Many guests care about their environmental impact and may be more likely to book a property that’s proudly eco-friendly.
- Reduce your costs — Eco-friendly appliances, LED bulbs, and smart thermostats can all help you save money on energy bills.
- Promote local businesses — By promoting sustainable businesses to your guests, you can play a role in helping your local economy thrive, which will, in turn, attract more tourists year after year.
- Get more great reviews — Eco-friendly practices will leave guests feeling good about their vacation, and more likely to leave a positive review for your property.
- Advertise on niche sites — If you meet the criteria, you can list your property on specialist sites for environmentally friendly vacation rentals – and boost your bookings and revenue.
Last but not least, making your property more eco-friendly is one small way your business can reduce the impact of climate change.
1. Use energy-efficient lightbulbs
The first thing you can do is swap out your old light bulbs for highly efficient LED ones. LED bulbs use much less heat and give more light than regular bulbs, all for a lower price. All in all, LED bulbs use around 85% less electricity than conventional lighting.
CFL bulbs are another option – though, while they are better than traditional bulbs, they are much less efficient than LEDs.
2. Replace your old appliances
Old household appliances such as dishwashers, boilers, and washing machines use a lot of energy. This means high energy bills and a lot of maintenance costs to fix problems.
Purchasing new appliances requires an up-front investment, but it will pay off in the long run. New appliances are much more energy efficient. You can check the efficiency of your appliances by checking their energy efficiency class – appliances are rated on a scale of A to G, with A being the most efficient product of its class, and G being the least efficient.
3. Install a smart thermostat
Sometimes, guests consume more energy than necessary. They leave the air conditioning running all day during summer, or blast the heating during colder months. They may even forget to turn off these devices when they go out.
This results in wasted energy, and higher energy bills for you. But a smart thermostat can solve this problem for you.
With a smart thermostat, you can automate your property’s heating and cooling system, or control it from your phone. You can set an ideal temperature and maintain that at all times, and ensure that the heating or air conditioning gets switched off when the property is vacant.
A smart thermostat can help reduce your energy consumption, cut your utility bills, and make guests comfortable during their stay.
If you’re looking for a smart thermostat, check out the different options from Nest or ecobee.
4. Make recycling easy
Your guests probably recycle at home. However, in a new place, it can be daunting to make separate bins for paper, plastic, and glass – and figure out where to dispose of each one.
Guests don’t want to have rubbish lingering in the house or spend time figuring out the local recycling practices. So make it easy for them – create separate, colour-coded trash bins, and provide clear instructions (in their language) explaining when and where to dispose of trash.
If your property has a garden, you can also consider placing a compost bin outside.
5. Stock up on shopping bags
Guests will need to go shopping during their stay, so a simple way to help them be more eco-friendly is to provide good-quality shopping bags they can take to the supermarket.
This will save them from using plastic bags or buying reusable bags. Explain where to find the shopping bags at check-in or in your welcome book.
6. Provide eco-friendly products
Providing eco-friendly products can help reduce your consumption of plastic and chemicals. It can even give your property a more elevated feel, as natural products are often perceived as more luxurious.
Here are some examples of natural and eco products to stock in your property:
- Natural washing up sponges
- Solid shampoo and bar soap
- Eco-friendly cleaning products
- Bio-degradabe laundry detergent
- Recycled toilet paper
- Paper or reusable straws
7. Promote local and sustainable businesses
Everyone knows that shopping locally is key to reducing our carbon footprint. In your vacation rental, you have the opportunity to promote local business and produce, meaning your guests can avoid buying products shipped from around the globe.
This is great for the environment and also allows your guests to have a more authentic experience.
As well as promoting sustainable shopping, you can advise guests which shops to avoid – such as tourist gift shops that sell inauthentic, poor-quality souvenirs.
An added bonus for your business is that you may be able to earn some extra commission by promoting local businesses to your guests.
8. Help guests use public transport
Public transport is a great way for guests to get around and do some sightseeing. To help guests be more eco-conscious, encourage them to use public transport instead of taking taxis or renting a car, if possible.
Make it easier for guests to explore the area with public transport by providing bus or train timetables, and instructions for purchasing tickets. You can also provide a map to help them explore your location on foot, or recommend a local bicycle hire shop.
Eco-friendliness is good for you and your guests
Part of improving Sustainability in Vacation Rentals.
Making your vacation rental more eco-friendly is an obvious choice and will benefit both guests and property managers.
As well as making your property more attractive to environmentally conscious guests, by adopting eco-friendly practices you can reduce your expenses and help the local economy and environment.
Adding sustainability to your listings can help attract more guests and increase your bookings.
