[April 29th] The Host Talk - Sustainability

[Liv]

Hey everyone,

After the CC social’s success, a few members have shared their desire to have a new type of online get-together where we could have more Hosting focused conversations.

With that in mind, we have decided to give your idea a go! 😊

Apart from the Social meet-up, we now have The Host Talk, a Community Center meeting for sharing and discussing pre-chosen Hosting related topics. 

We plan on giving you guys the chance to vote on your preferred subjects in the future, but to kick things off, this first session will have the theme of Sustainability.🐛

@Anna1403 , our sustainability focused HAB member, will be joining the conversation with fellow hosts who are interested in sharing their experience and coming up with insights for a more sustainable way of Hosting.

The meet-up will take place on Thursday April 29th, 3:30PM (BST).

Timezones:

Thursday April 29th, 9:30AM (Kansas City / Pensacola, Florida)

Thursday April 29th, 10:30AM (New York / Toronto)

Thursday April 29th, 4:30PM  (Spain)

Thursday April 29th, 11:30PM (Seoul)

Friday April 30th, 00:00 AM (Darwin)

Friday April 30th, 00:30 AM (Melbourne) 

If you would like to join, please register before the start time by clicking here.

Not sure how to use Zoom? Check out this CC guide. 

Have you got any sustainability related questions you would like to to ask fellow hosts? Is there any specific discussion you’d like to have around this theme? 🌿

Let us know below so we can pick a few  suggestions to get our conversation started.

I’m really looking forward to chatting with you 💚

Thanks a lot and I’ll see you there!

Liv

[Debra300]

@Liv,

Sorry I missed the gathering, but I had to work.  I am sure that you all covered some great topics.  I'll try to attend the next one.

[Liv]

 @Pascale144 @Omar202  @Mary996 @Christine615 @Alexandra316 @Jessica-and-Henry0 @Paul1255 @Kitty-and-Creek0 @John5097 @Kemi9 @Lawrene0 @Anna1403 @Laurelle3 @Veronica-Of-Excel-Proper0 @Stephanie @Nick @Quincy 

Thanks for the talk, guys! It was a lot of fun and I think there were a lot of great insights that came out of it 💚  

Any ideas of topics for the next one? 👀

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Liv 

Such a terrific group, so many things to learn! 

A suggestion perhaps, to start here with a list of things that we consider sustainable, renewable, etc that could help build the checklist of those amenities?  I live between two proudly "green" towns, so organic markets and restaurants, bike lanes, outdoor dining, abundant public recycling bins and car chargers are all on my local area guidebook list.  

I see that this could be fun!

[John5097]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 @Liv 

Great idea about a check list. We have had discussions in the past here at CC about recycling and solar power. While I provide a recycling bins both in the unit and outside, I don't try to mico manage everything, and everyone recycles and don't complain. 

-- Recycling bins inside and out (Recycling bin is picked up by the county) 

-- High efficiency, energy star appliances 

-- Tankless hot water heater, on demand hot water.

-- Low VOC construction materials and furnature (no noxious fumes from flooring, paint, mattress etc.)  Yes, some guest are very sensitive to toxic building materials. 

-- Zero mold or mildew and non fragrance cleaning materials. It would be nice to provide specifically what cleaning products we use as well. 

I try to be as energy efficient and incorporate renewable energy as much as possible, however every place is different. I also don't need to promote my listing and just kind of like guest noticing there is a recycling program, and that everyone in our neighborhood recycles. 

For me I'm thinking of having a separate booklet with the history of the house, where some of the materials were from, as I get that question a lot, for example the flooring, which also happens to be eco friendly and non toxic. And I could include what mades it efficient, and those savings help keep the nightly rates lower.   

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@John5097 @Liv 

Hi John -

we have done a book already on the house, as you suggested. It is part of the story in our listing, and in the materials we provide in our guest room. Our home is a Frank Lloyd Wright School design, which is all about the principles of Organic Architecture. We get a lot of guests here who are architects, architecture students,  and lovers of the Frank Lloyd Wright school designs. Naturally these people are from everywhere, as Wright revolutionized design concepts and principles all over the world. Our home and property are thus not about ownership, rather about stewardship. 

Thanks for your list, I am taking notes here, assembling my own with inspiration from you!

[John5097]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

Thanks so much for sharing the sustainable aspects of your home and listing. That's so interesting you have been off grid for a number of decades in your location. I enjoy following the entire off grid living and tiny home. Of course your's isn't tiny, but that's remarable you were off grid and using solar that was much more of a challenge.

There are so many aspects to sustainable living. Even in an urban setting, travelers don't need cars and use public transportation, for example. For people who share their own houses, or have a guest apartment or suite, is also lower energy consumption.

Our community has a lot of permaculture enthusiast. I also have a garden but there are also dozens of vegetable co-ops with the various farms that surround the city. Restaurants also source foods locally. And most of my guest tend to eat out and leave little trash. 

So its interesting there are so many aspects to renewable energy. Some of the houses I've worked on were net zero emissions, meaning that they produced more energy than they used. 

My listing is close to the city and beach so attracts a wide range of guest who may be in the city for various reasons. Vast majority are very independent with a brief message. I may include some of the farming events, such as strawberry picking, or farmers markets, in the guest guide. 

It really fun and interesting to follow all the various listings. 

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@John5097 

There have never been public utilities out here, which is not all that unusual in our remote rural region. Our area was known - until it became popular, even trendy - as the solar capital of the states, and much innovation came about here. There was even a parade of people powered vehicles. We had one of them parked here, which was called the Yellow Submarine, made from a fiberglass septic tank. 

Nope, our house is not tiny, it is about 4000 sq ft. We have acres of glass ( I call it living in a fishbowl) which is double pane and tinted for glare. South and west facing glass walls are buffered by a wraparound solarium, which protects from storms and warms the house in winter. The guest wing is up to the most recent building codes, with so much insulation to offset the glass in there, which is also tempered for the wind and storms which can happen in winter. You've already inspired me to consider efficiency building codes and such for my list. This discussion is getting my brain going, something I need more of after more than a year of isolating here on the mountain. Thank you!

In the 1950's it was not "cool" to car pool, but my father did it every day to work and back, with a group of friends who all worked in the same downtown area. We did not have a car for many years, we walked everywhere, and rode public transportation - busses, trains, ferries, shuttles, streetcars. Even when we got a car it was garaged unless we were going somewhere, like camping out in the wilderness,  all over gorgeous places including this one, for a weekend or a vacation. This is a strong trend here - when we have guests from the City, they are usually in a rented car, they don't need one where they live and work.

Permaculture is like religion here. One of the Gurus of the movement is local, we can see where his place is, on one of the mountains opposite us across the valley: John Jeavons, you likely already know of him. As you do, our restaurants are all into locally grown organic foods, including meats, eggs, poultry. We also have a local fishing and crabbing community to source from. Our freezer has locally produced lamb and beef, as well as some venison and elk gifted from a friend who bow hunts. Every community here has a Farmer's Market, and also a variety of CSA farmers. Our FFA and 4H are very big here, as are the County Fairs and rodeos. 

I have a bound local guide here for guests to use and take along on road trips. I'm a member of the Chamber of Commerce, the Arts Council, Tourism Bureau, etc. I use all their resources, picking what the guest indicates are their particular interest here. I love playing Concierge; who else is better qualified to provide them the best experiences? Our County is the size of Connecticut, with perhaps 75K people, so this is a paradise for city folk needing time away. 

Since our night sky is so dark - no neighboring or ambient light to disturb us - we do star shows regularly, loving to show the stars, planets, and neighboring galaxy to visitors. The Milky Way and seasonal meteor showers are so wonderful. When the Space Station passes by we are tempted to wave!

I'm looking forward to more exchange of ideas with you, thanks!

[John5097]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 

That is so interesting! I would definitely include some history about your solar journey. Thanks for sharing some of your experiences. Your dad kind of sounds like my dad. Permaculture is very popular here. There is a group with meetups. I've attended some workshops and meet ups, seed swaps, inoculating mushrooms, gathering seaweed, etc.. and some of the organizers made a carrier out of permaculture and were educated in California, as I recall, so I'm sure they would know your neighbor. I have very fond experiences in California, so really nice for you to share so many positive experiences, history and approaches to sustainable living. Definitely a unique listing. Looking though it so many options popped up! I also look forward to share more experiences and information on sustainable living!   

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@John5097 

I had the pleasure of visiting Charleston once, nearly 50 years ago; it was charming. We'd been with family at Pawley's Island which was a tiny little place, we stayed at the Tip Top Inn which was one of very few places to stay at that time. I am a N. California native and those are deep roots, indeed. 

I'm delighted to hear that Charleston has so many terrific resources in the community. We do seed swaps here, and also seedling swaps and sales. With these mountains, we have unlimited microclimates here, so locally grown seedlings are best. Our local grocery stores always have racks of them, a great source, and a great outlet for these local nurseries. 

I'm sure with the climate you enjoy there, your success with mushroom cultivation is pretty much guaranteed. It is so dry here that we don't do that, though we've tried. In autumn and winter we have the great fun of exploring the many wild mushrooms that show up in our forest after the right amount of rain. We are members of a number of mushroom clubs, so we are thrilled when it is our turn to host a foray. 

I know how rich birding is on your coast, it is pretty wonderful here in quite another way altogether. When we were at the resort in the 1970's we were aware of some unusual  birds and mammals, so we did our best to attract guests who were super interested in them. 

Ah, seaweeds!  Big gathering here, all kinds. One of the staple Native foods. Dad made sure I knew how to fish, gather, forage, process and know wild foods wherever we went exploring.  I do teach some of that when guests are here at the right moment and interested. Once I had a group of guests help me harvest cherries in my orchard, they took home a big basket filled, and grins to go with. I so love that!

Creek and I were laughing a bit today as we were doing some regular monthly maintenance on the batteries that store power for running the house and all the power needs of all the buildings here. One module need rebuilding and a key part replaced. We realized once again that living off grid takes at least one very handy person, full time, to keep it all going. 

Back to managing the compost bins...and then back to the never ending fix it list! 

[Liv]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 @John5097 

That's a great idea! Please feel free to keep sharing your insights! 😊

I'm putting together a summary of the points we discussed in the meet-up and I'll share it with you guys soon.

[John5097]

@Liv  Sounds great! 

This is an interesting documentary on electric cars. Its already 10 years old but that also adds to the context of how change can take time. Elon Musk is featured in this doc and is very entertaining thoughout. When it came out at least 300 people showed up at our local iMax. 

A dedicated room for sustainability would be great also, which @Stephanie also mentioned. I love following this stuff, planning for the future, and the next 5-10 years should be really interesting. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXJnS9RgKsg

[Liv]

That doc sounds interesting, @John5097! Thanks for sharing 😎

[John5097]

@Liv 

Just realized that link didn't have the final 30 minutes or so. This one has the full doc. I watched it again. Its good!  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXv-pixk0m8

[Kitty-and-Creek0]

@Liv 

I'm keeping a list! Such a productive and inspiring meetup that was! Thanks so much!

[Liv]

@Kitty-and-Creek0 That's nice! It's lovely to hear that you enjoyed the meet-up and were inspired by it 😊

I hope you can join us on our next one, which is still to be scheduled.