[FESTIVAL] How community shapes sustainability

[Rebecca]

Every month, my family and I join the beach cleanup on the stretch of coast where I live. This month has been so busy with summer holidays in full swing and at first glance the pebbles and sand looked fairly clean. Yet once we started looking closely, there were bottle tops, food wrappers, scraps of plastic and bits of fishing line scattered everywhere. Each of us carried a bag and within an hour we had collected enough to fill two of the commercial waste bins. The beach looked brighter and cleaner, but more than that, we knew we had helped protect this wonderful space and the sea beyond it.

That morning reminded me how powerful a group of people can be. Picking up a single bottle top will not save the ocean; but when a community comes together, those efforts add up to something much bigger. Healthier spaces for wildlife, safer places for children to play and a community that feels proud of its coastline.

I think this idea connects beautifully with hosting. Sustainability does not always need grand gestures or expensive changes. Often it comes down to simple, thoughtful choices that, when multiplied across a community, create real and lasting impact. Something as small as leaving a reusable shopping bag in the kitchen or reminding guests to recycle can spark a ripple effect. One small action in your home may inspire your guest, and that guest might carry the idea back to their own community.

What role do you believe community plays in driving sustainability and protecting our environment, and how have you put this into practice yourself?

I'm looking forward to hearing from you soon, 

Rebecca

[Laurelle3]

@Francis3408 we have bandicoots that love our patch of grass at our Airbnb in Huskisson NSW Australia. The possum comes out occasionally and runs across the roof top and then down along the fence. 

[Rebecca]

Yes @Helen427 - we had a group of Orcas in the winter/spring months and often get seals! 

No interesting messages in bottles, but I have found 'Scleractinian Coral' preserved in flint (Upper Cretaceous in age - approx 66 - 100 million years old) and a big chunk of amber! 

 

I don't have any of the Wombles books but adored the series as a child. We have a local Womble mascot that we use as part of our litter picking group. There was a lovely local lady who wrote a children's book about litter picking and another about taking action. 

[Lorina14]

@Rebecca thanks for the beautiful piece on why little things matter! And yes it’s amazing what is on our beaches - fishing lines, bottles, plastic items and more.

I remember when I did a Qi gong retreat in Shaolin and we fasted so many mealtimes were replaced with personal time of reflection, hiking, playing the flute (one person brought her flute each year). It made me realize the importance of mealtimes for connection as we gathered around food, shared stories and laughter. Now that everyone was fasting in their own way, we didn’t have that connection.

I filled my time with hikes in the surrounding area trails and was amazed by the beauty… and the litter that locals and even tourists left on the trail and in nature. I started collecting trash on my hikes in plastic bags: bottles, chip bags, caps, paper, plastic, you name it and halfway through my hike I often was using my limited Chinese to ask the locals where a trashcan was to dump my full bag. I was met with confusion as they didn’t understand why I had trash and why was I collecting it. I saw some people from our group a few times toss a wrapper to the side because “it didn’t matter and this is what locals do”. Well if everyone did that, we would soon be wading through trash.

I often remind my son of the saying to be mindful of our impact on our environment. In national parks you cannot remove items like stones or flowers as if everyone did that it would hurt the landscape for the animals, plants as well as potentially affect the beauty to share with our children and other future guests. Every action counts, in whatever way one can contribute and help out, it matters. So make small strides and figure out how one can become more sustainable from bringing your own reusable utensils (GoSun has a great flat kit the size of a credit card), choosing reusable bottles instead of single use plastic bottles, using an app like @Quincy for great eats and to reduce waste from local restaurants, carpooling, using Swedish dish clothes instead of paper towels, etc. Every action creates an impact. 

[Rebecca]

@Lorina14 - Thanks so much for sharing your experience at Shaolin, especially with the fasting and hikes and litter picking. It’s wonderful how something as simple as eating together can make such a difference, and we do this with our children every night too. It's a moment for reflection and catching up on the day.

I fully understand what you mean about the litter. Picking it up has become second nature - even the dog does it! 

If we all took a bit more care, places would stay lovely for everyone. Reusable bottles and utensils are handy, aren’t they? Do you have any other tips for making daily life a bit more eco-friendly? I’m always looking for ideas that are easy to stick with. 

[Frances3408]

@Rebecca 

We have a local version of the Clean Up Australia Day here, held every year usually in March. Started 25 years ago cleaning up in Sydney Harbour and its co ordinated country wide now. Speaking of Sydney, because we have removed most of the heavy manufacturing from Sydney foreshores the water is so much cleaner that now the migratory whales come into the Harbour for a stop over visit! 

[Rebecca]

Oh wow - that must be a beautiful sight! Every time I think of Sydney Harbour, it brings back "P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney" from 'Finding Nemo'  🐠

I do love that they have a day to celebrate, but every day should be a clean up day! 

[Felicity11]

Hi @Rebecca 

I love hearing about your beach clean-up and how your community comes together to do this once a month.  We find that once we start cleaning up, we often inspire others around us to get on board and pick up a few items. The first thing we do when we go to the beach is clean it up, and we find it very hard to walk past any piece of rubbish that is lying around.  

It's not ideal that we need to do this, but if we all keep chipping away at it, we can make an impact.  We also need to consider how we can all change our behaviour and minimise our use of single-use plastics, and think of where we dispose of these items so they do not end up in the oceans, rivers or our forests.   

When it comes to community, I would like to share this story with you.  I started a sustainability club at my local school and we aimed to have an impact on many parts of the school.  One project we started was setting up compost bins and collection points for soft plastics. The children and teachers got on board and the projects grew in popularity.   What I hadn't counted on was the ripple effect. I started to have parents come up to me in the playground and tell that they were now composting and collecting soft plastics at home because their children had taught them how to do this.  It started at school and it flowed out to the community.  I believe that we can have a similar effect by setting up our homes to make it easy for our guests to do the right thing when they stay with us and chances are they may then take these practices home with them.  Hosts can have a ripple effect as well! 

[Rebecca]

Thank you so much for sharing that story with me @Felicity11 and it's a wonderful example of the ripple effect. 

I like to think that openly talking about sustainability, environmentally and eco-friendly friendly ideas and sharing our challenges and learnings in this space will have that same ripple effect. 💚

[Felicity11]

HI @Rebecca 

Thank you for your comment and yes lets keep sharing these stories and I hope the ripple effect grows into a wave effect! 

[Laurelle3]

@Rebecca Thank you for sharing your coastline with us.

At Huskisson in Jervis Bay Marine Park our sands are very clean with very little sea rubbish. Most of the locals are very conscious of our surrounds and pick up any rubbish that may have been washed up on the beach. If we see any rubbish on our way home from a walk to the beach we pick up and take it home with us.  

Seaweed sometimes washes up in large amounts when the seas have been rough and it will take a week or 2 before it moves off. Below is a heart that I made with the soft pink seaweed that has been on the beach. I make welcome cards for our Guests when they say they are booking our cottage for their Wedding Anniversary with this photo.

[Rebecca]

Sounds like you’ve got a lovely community like me there, always looking after the beach. That heart made from seaweed is so beautiful.  Do the guests say anything about it when they see it on their cards? Wouldn't it be lovely to have it in a photo frame on the wall? 😍 Does the seaweed changes colour throughout the year or is it always pink?

[Kathryn52]

I include this photo the day before guest check-ins. ❤️

 

[Laurelle3]

@Kathryn52 I like this idea. thank you for sharing.

[Rebecca]

Me too @Kathryn52 - thank you! It's a job to keep them refilled in my family! 😅 

I really like the 'host focused on sustainability part! These should be stickers/badges or posters for your listings!