Plastic Free July : Here's what I do to reduce plastic consumption in my listing

[Felicity11]

Plastic Free July is a global movement that is gathering momentum around the world and every day consumers are more aware of the plastic waste they create and that includes guests. I realized, as a sustainable Host, I can show guests that I care about reducing the amount of plastic waste in the world by taking a number of steps to reduce plastic in our listings.  

When upgrading items in my Airbnb, I consider looking for items that are not made of plastic and ways to reduce plastic consumption.  Some items I like to consider are : 

• Washing Basket: choose a cane or wicker basket over a plastic basket. When the basket does eventually break the cane or wicker basket can be added to a compost bin and will break down. The plastic washing basket will remain as a lump of broken plastic for hundreds of years to come. 
  
  
  
  
• Choosing metal clothes pegs over plastic pegs:  Not only are metal pegs more durable but if they do break, they are easily recycled, unlike plastic pegs that degrade in sunlight and are difficult to recycle.
  
  
• Choosing a wooden/metal coat hanger over plastic:   Wooden hangers look nice and add a nice feel to your listing and if they break, the wood will eventually be recycled. But a broken plastic coat hanger will be a broken lump of plastic for hundreds of years.
  
  
  
  
•  Choosing blankets made from natural fibres such as wool/cotton: Blankets made from polyester and other synthetic fibres are made of oil so they are a form of plastic. Every time we wash polyester blankets they release micro-fibres into the waterways. I reduce this by choosing not to buy furnishing made of polyester/synthetic fibres.
  
  
• Supplying tea and coffee without plastic packaging:  Some tea bags come in fine plastic tea bags. When we use these plastic tea bags, very fine plastic particles can be found in the tea we drink.  We can avoid drinking plastic particles by avoiding plastic tea bags. Paper tea bags and loose-leaf tea can also be added to the compost bin.
  
  Plastic tea bag, paper tea bag, loose tea.
• Consider buying in bulk from a bulk foods store and avoid packaging for amenities such as shampoo, conditioner, soap, dishwashing liquid, laundry powder, cooking oil, tea, coffee, and sugar.  This is a great way to support small local businesses and reduce plastic consumption.  
  
  

These are just a few tips that I follow in order to reduce plastic consumption in our listing.  

What do you do in order to reduce plastic consumption in your listing?  Have your guests commented to you about the steps you have taken to reduce plastic in your home?

[Although I am a Host Advisory Board member, these articles are written based on own my personal experiences and opinions as a sustainable Host]

[Marielle135]

I agree so much with you and I have to admit that you have made sustainability grow into me felicity!

i now only use recyclable cleaning products made of thym, lemon, mint, etc, their containers are also 100% recycled and recyclable.Better for the planet and for me, less chemicals to breathe to.

i am also doing the same with the soap and shampoo I supply, the bottles they are in are recyclable.

i am at the moment inquiring to build bulk shampoo and soap bars instead of supplying bottles. Also they could be a great present for the guests to take with them!

i have also discovered ecological plastic bin bags.

There are definitely little actions we can take, make it better for the planet, the guests, us and maybe a little guilt feeling…

[Jennifer3225]

my heart @Marielle135.. This is working. Well done @Felicity11 

[Felicity11]

@Jennifer3225 

Inspired by the best! 

[Felicity11]

Hi @Marielle135 

I am so happy to hear you like the article and are inspired. 

I love that you are making your own cleaning products and also looking to make shampoo and soap bars for guests!   Brilliant.

I agree there are lots of small steps we can all take to reduce our plastic consumption and I think there are many guests who will love these touches - showing that we care! 

[Daniel1651]

It's good to find practical examples to apply in our lists right now 💚

I really appreciate your examples, @Felicity11 , because they make me think about what things we can continue to improve to be more sustainable.

In my case, I would like to add that we can leave shopping bags made of non-plastic material, such as natural raffia, so that guests do not have to buy plastic bags when shopping.

Similarly, by providing them with drinking water straight from the tap, I encourage them not to buy plastic bottles.

I am also currently reintroducing natural coffee machines, to avoid the use of plastic capsules.

[Jennifer3225]

@Daniel1651 The water from the tap is so key to share the news with the guests. .Telling guests that you drink it, is reassuring and while bottled water is cheap... the reality is they are heavy and take up a lot of room in the car.

For Coffee.. you can get reusable pods.. where the guest can fill up a pod and then dump the grinds in the compost or food cycler.

Jen

[Felicity11]

Hi @Daniel16 

Thank you for your comments it is wonderful to hear what steps you are taking to help guests reduce plastic when staying with you. 

I think we can all do so much more to let guests know if the drinking water in our Airbnb  is suitable for drinking and if not are there better ways to buy water to drink and avoid plastic bottles. 

I love that you are looking into a natural coffee machine.  We use a nespreso machine and the metal capsules can be collected and returned and recycled.  There are more and more options available it it good to be able to support companies that are making it easy to recycle the waste.  Plastic can only be recycled a few times before the polymers are to weak and it can not be made into an item and then becomes waste.  Metal on the other hand can be recycled many times - not infinitely but many many more times than plastic and this is what makes it such a good choice for many - but not all every day items. 

[Helen427]

@Felicity11 

I've been doing my bit and learnt that when my trusty aged 20 years plus plastic Skellerup (yes that's the same family as Skjellerup who founded Para Rubber and Skjellerup / Skellerup industries in New Zealand) Clothes Pegs break on one side that I no longer throw them out, I keep them until another one breaks, pull them to pieces and make a new Clothes Peg out of the remaining pieces which includes a piece of metal to hold it together!!

I'm quite enjoying having Green and Yellow and Yellow and Purple Pegs on my linen as it dries.

I don't find the new plastic bags  or outer wrapping on Toilet Paper made from Recycled Paper that has infiltrated society at all environmentally friendly because it all crumbles to pieces in an instant which is not good for the environment so that stays on the supermarket shelf.

I've made a huge dent in my cupboard space with giving away an expanding collection of Glass Jars my Guests have contributed to to a lovely lady who makes Jams and Chutneys and sells them for Hector's Trust, alas now my cupboard space has a few more Glass Jars full of tasty morsels...

Do you clean and collect Glass jars so they can be reused in your community without going into the Trucks off to the Recycling Places that smash them to pieces before making another jar?

Maybe those of you who have Guests where they tend to leave food items behind could include a mention in your listings to do the same to reduce waste and better look after the environment.

[Laurelle3]

@Helen427 great to hear from you again. Yes I reycle broken pegs like you.

I reuse the glass jars when I make pickles and jam.

[Felicity11]

Kia ora @Helen427

Great to hear from you and thank you for your comments.  Great to hear what you are doing to keep your Skellerup pegs in use and avoiding landfill.  Its great to find a product that will last and can be repaired some what and keep going.   A small step towards the circular economy. 

I love the sound of all your jars being collected and trading them for delicious home made chutney. As they say one women's rubbish is another women's treasure.  It sounds like a great deal -  your friend does not need to buy new glass jars and these jars can continue to be kept in use and out of the recycling bin.   I take my excess glass jars to my local bulk food co op store and they are made available for customers to use when buying items in bulk - for free - free reusable packaging!

[Sharon161]

Agree,with my place being an eco lodge Airbnb,we need to be mindful of all sorts of things in the lodge.Fortunately,items are getting better at being sustsinable now in NZ

[Laurelle3]

@Felicity11 you are on the case again of sustainability, great work, with great ideas.

We have just had on TV "War on Waste" again this week presented by Craig Reucassel.

It was interesting to see how much microfibre is in the blood system from plastics. 

[Jennifer3225]

@Felicity11 @Laurelle3 No point in ever stopping.. the more we talk about it the more common it will be

[Felicity11]

Hi @Laurelle1 

Great to have your support and so happy you enjoyed the article.  

The show Laurelle is referring to is the Australian Documentary on ABC called War on Waste.  The presenter shows us more about the problems in plastic recycling and what can and cant be recycled. In this weeks episode the presenter had some interesting tests done on himself and it was interesting and scary to see how many plastic microfibres were in his blood system and again propelled me to think - where else can we reduce plastic in our every day lives. 

These are just a few suggestions - There are many every day items we can swap out - what other things do you do to swap out plastic from your day to day life?