The environment: making your guests' holidays greener
How do you adapt your property to greener consumption and respect the environment? Here's everything you need to know!
For a few years now, we have all been trying to adopt a way of consuming that is kinder to the environment. We consume better and less, and we also travel more thoughtfully. Rental properties need to adapt to this new "way of consuming" and offer alternatives that are kinder to the environment.
What can you do to make your property greener?
To make a property kinder to the environment, there are a few things worth checking. How good is your insulation, for example? What kind of electricity do you use? Do you have low-energy light bulbs?
Next, take a look at your furniture and decoration. Where does it come from? Could you buy it second-hand?
Finally, provide "green" everyday items:
- Solid or at least certified soaps and shampoos. How about local toiletries?
- Environmentally friendly cleaning products
- A bin so you can sort your recycling at home and encourage your guests to do the same
- In winter, blankets to avoid over-heating the property
- Details of local producers and restaurants with a seasonal menu, and so on
These small changes won't cost you much and they will help you win over a new type of clientele. And if you are feeling really motivated, you could even fit solar panels on your roof!
Before deciding where to start, here's a summary of the possible actions and what they actually require.
| Action | Cost | Priority impact |
|---|---|---|
| Insulation and electricity | Medium to high | Energy consumption |
| Low-energy light bulbs | Very low | Energy consumption |
| Second-hand furniture and décor | Very low or negative | Waste reduction |
| Solid soaps and labelled products | Low | Responsible consumption |
| Recycling bin | Very low | Waste sorting |
| Throws in winter | Very low | Heating reduction |
| Solar panels | High | Energy production |
| StyQR welcome book | None (paper savings) | Elimination of reprints |
Going further: the digital welcome book
Beyond putting all of this in place, you can go further still in your quest to respect the environment.
You can choose a digital welcome book instead of the paper version printed out for every new guest. With your StyQR welcome book, you can edit and update your welcome book for every new booking, every season and more, all without using a single sheet of paper.
You can even list restaurants or places to visit for your guests that fully respect environmental standards. That way, wherever they are, they get tips from a local, and that is priceless! The environmental side of holidays is something that simply cannot be overlooked in 2021. Highlight it in your listing: it could tip the balance in your favour!
Frequently asked questions
Where do I start to make my rental greener? Look first at what consumes: insulation, the electricity you use, the light bulbs. Furniture, decoration and everyday products come afterwards. Switching to solid soap while the windows let the heat escape feels good, but changes nothing.
Does greener equipment cost a lot? Most of the changes mentioned here stay modest: solid or certified soaps and shampoos, environmentally friendly cleaning products, a recycling bin, a few throws for winter. Second-hand furniture often costs less than new. Solar panels, on the other hand, are a different budget.
How do I get my guests to sort their waste? Put a recycling bin at their disposal inside the property. Without a dedicated bin, sorting simply does not happen, however willing the guest may be. Then explain in your welcome book what goes where.
Is a digital welcome book really greener than paper? A paper booklet gets reprinted every time an opening time, a code or a recommendation changes. With a StyQR welcome book, you update it for each new booking or each season without using a single sheet. It is the only item on this list that requires no building work.
Should I put solar panels on the roof? That is the heaviest step, reserved for owners who are already very motivated. Everything else delivers results well before that. On a poorly insulated property, producing your own electricity only hides the problem.
Is it worth mentioning in my listing? Yes. These efforts win you a new kind of guest, and that guest will not guess them from the photos. List in your welcome book the local producers, the restaurants with a seasonal menu and the activities that respect environmental constraints: that is a local's advice, and it is priceless.
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