Eco host badge?

[A65]

A green ECO HOST badge, similar to the Superhost badge would allow guests who want to travel with minimum impact on the planet to choose to stay with someone who shares their concerns. 

I think Airbnb would be the first company to have such a thing? The coronavirus cleaning badge was a great idea – now let’s deal with the climate emergency too. It was here first! 

An eco host badge could be awarded to hosts who can tick a certain proportion of boxes. Some ideas below and people have shared many other ideas on here already. The main thing would be to encourage hosts and guests to think about their impact on the planet and enjoy a break in a more sustainable way.

What do you think? 

Energy: Sign up to a 100% renewable and/or carbon neutral energy company.

Discuss heating/ air conditioning requirements with guests so energy isn’t wasted. Have low energy light bulbs, A rated appliances etc.

Recycling: Provide clear information about local recycling, with separate bins for recyclable and general waste. Avoid plastic bags in bins – bins can be washed. Work towards being a plastic free zone.

Cleaning: Minimise the use of cleaning products and/or use for example Ecover products which can be refilled locally.

Info: Tell guests about vegetarian and vegan restaurants, organic stores etc. and any local environmental initiatives such as food shares, plastic free shops. Ask guests for ideas about how you can improve your ‘green credentials’!

Travel: Use the guide book section to list ways to enjoy the area without a car. Include where to find local public transport information, bike hire etc.

Perhaps offer a discount, reward or incentive to those arriving by public transport or by bike/on foot. 

Provide safe, covered bike storage if possible.

Bedroom: Wash linen at lower temperatures if possible (apart from when there’s a pandemic on!) and in less harmful washing liquids.

Save laundry by having one pillow per guest with others available if they require them.

Bathroom: Tell guests where to find extra towels if needed but don’t leave loads out so that they all have to be washed. Recycled toilet paper.

Provide soap and shampoo soap, or refillable shower gel and shampoo bottles. Don’t use tiny individual plastic bottles.

Breakfast

Offer vegetarian and vegan breakfasts. Use washable containers for butter, jam etc. instead of plastic sachets. Avoid teabags containing plastic. Cereals in glass jars, rather than plastic sachets. Buy local or offer home grown produce where possible.

Any more ideas?

[Helen350]

👎👎👎Nope from me! - I don't want any more badges that I might fail to live up to in a picky guest's subjective opinion.

Not sure why you like the cleaning badge either... Another rod for Airbnb & guests to beat us with, and much of it impossible to achieve. Many of us think those who have signed up to the badge are lying...

[Helen3]

"Many of us think those who have signed up to the badge are lying..."

Why did you lie when you signed up to the cleaning badge? Or is it just others you think are lying when they did this  @Helen350

I've blocked my calendar for the foreseeable as Airbnb will not let me host as I can't comply with their new cleaning policy in terms of wearing a mask at ALL times in shared communal areas..

[Helen350]

I will do what is possible @Helen3 but I can't not re-enter my kitchen/bathroom/stairs, after cleaning prior to a guest's arrival. 

I signed because Airbnb say they will delist those who don't sign up. I wish to continue hosting so I clicked all the buttons. In 'clicking' I've agreed to what I can, not what I can't....

It would have been better to give hosts a free CHOICE, as to whether to pledge allegiance to the unachievable rules, but the heavy-handed threat of de-listing forces hosts to 'click'. AND, there should have been provision for home share hosts, who by definition can not have  sanitized common areas at all times of day....

Interesting that a host 50 miles from me who runs a rough & ready set up with stars of less than 4 for cleaning on some rooms is still on platform, despite having not signed up.... I shall continue to peruse his listing as a yardstick... Will be interesting to see if a host with 3 point something* for cleaning remains (I hope he does - Good luck to him!)

I've got a hospital doctor just arrived tonight, home sharing with me till my (shared) LTR is free in 10 days time. We found each other on SpareRoom. She wore a mask, I didn't.

[Luzmi4]

What? I don’t share your negativity toward a green badge, I think is cleaver and would help us very much for receiving only guests who appreciate a true and simple, yet elegant Eco Lifestyle. 

[Kath9]

@A65Airbnb has already been in discussion about precisely this with hosts  (including myself). Your idea is very similar to some ideas already being floated - hosts who meet a certain percentage of criteria would be 'certified' as green with a green badge (similar to a Superhost badge). I think it's a great idea - as a travelling guest, I would definitely prioritise green hosts if I had that option. Watch this space!

[A65]

Thanks Kath.  I'd suggested it to Airbnb too and knew they were talking about it. Just thought I'd see if  other hosts supported the idea. Glad to hear that they do! Yes, I'd definitely look for an eco-host badge when booking too. I think it could be a winner for Airbnb and fit in nicely with their culture.

[Ute42]

.

@A65  

You are asking for more ideas.

Here's a list of proposals made by CC members in the recent past:

• ECO badge (Your proposal)

• green badge

• veggie badge

• vegan badge

• allergy free badge

• cotton linen badge

• linens being washed with scent-free deterrant badge

• electric vehicle chargability badge

• piano available badge

• drumkit available badge

• badgefree badge (my proposal)

None of these proposals have been successful so far. The problem being: If You plaster Your listing with too many badges, Your place may not be visible any more.

Anyway, good luck with Your initiative.

cc:  @Helen350 

[Chris232]

@Ute42 

With all those badges I would feel I am back in the Boy Scoutes !

Perhaps that is what Airbnb think of us hostes

[A65]

Haha. I hadn't seen all those! Just the one badge would do...... Pick and choose which 'green things' you want to do.

[Melodie-And-John0]

@Helen350 ,

@A65  "Badges, we don't need no stinking Badges", 

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=badges+we+don%27t+need+no+stinking+badges&docid=608027757312150...

I'm with @Helen350 and @Ute42  on this one, eco friendly is way too subjective and there are no real common mindsets we could agree on if another badge was needed, they arent needed.   I know plenty of self professed "Green" People that aren't vegan and vegans that aren't very "Green" by many measures.   You pick your own brand of  Green and wear it proudly just like we all present the overall package we choose to our guests and they have one sure way to judge us that the world can see, in our ratings.  If your true green and true green people stay at your place and love it, they will put special meaning into your rating that others who appreciate see and hopefully book for. 

Badges make those ratings target practice for snooty snipers that think a 5 star stay at Bearpath Lodging should, can and must be judged by the same optics as one at the Hilton Astoria.  Not practical.   Stay well, JR

[Emilia42]

The coronavirus cleaning badge was a great idea?? It is the exact opposite of eco. Emptying about a bottle of bleach in between each guest, washing every piece of linen on the hottest heat setting, putting on a new pair of disposable gloves every time you enter a new room, offering single-use-everythings that haven't been touched by another guest .... etc, etc. 

[Dimitar27]

@A65, I hope it is clear for you, that  at least 70-80% of the places in the world will never (I mean never-never)  qualify for such a badge.

100% renewable energy, separate recycle bins, vegan restaurants and public transport in a distant rural areas? Good luck! You will need it.

There was e research here, two years ago, about the waste water treatment. And the general conclusion was, that if 90% of the population must be covered by a wastewater treatment system, it will take at least 20 years of building. Now they are near 55%.

[A65]

That was just a list of suggestions. Of course not all of them would apply to everyone which is why I'm suggesting that hosts could get a badge if they do a certain proportion of them. There's a climate emergency and every little action helps. Perhaps you could buy recycled toilet roll, tell people about local walks in your rural area, not use lots of plastic, whatever applies to you. Maybe you have other suggestions to add to the list that you could do? 

Good luck with your waste water treatment......

[Dimitar27]

This eco, vegan and etc. fashion will die out one day. Very soon, I hope. Under normal conditions,  we all have a natural strive to live in a clean, sustainable world and prosperous society.