What do we offer as a sustainable listing?
Over the years we have had the privilege of meeting guests from all over the world and many appreciate the little things we do to offer guests a low emissions accommodation option.
Tourism is starting to come back, and many more guests are aware of the emissions they create when they travel and are looking for options to lower their carbon footprint. It’s easy for hosts to make a few changes to their listings that can have a significant impact on the emissions our guests create during their stay.
What does low emission mean, you might ask? It simply means the emissions created by staying in your listing are the lowest they can be, eg power, water, waste.
We try to make this easy for guests who stay with us by setting up our listing to have the lowest carbon footprint that we can offer. Here is a breakdown of what we do in each of the key areas that emissions are created when guests stay with us, I hope it might inspire you.
Power – we generate over 75% of our electricity through our roof top solar system, we buy the remainder of our power from a renewable electricity provider (if this is not an option for your listing, it is often possible to buy renewable energy certificates). We also use energy efficient lighting and appliances. Our cottage is fully insulated and has thermal backed curtains to make it more energy efficient.
Waste - to help guests minimise food waste, we provide reusable containers to keep leftover food in, and a compost bin for kitchen scraps. The compost helps keep our garden looking great. To further help guests lower their waste while staying with us we offer reusable metal water bottles and coffee cups.
Transport - to help guests lower their emissions when getting around Sydney we provide public transport cards and route maps they can use while staying. While we are not set up for charging electric vehicles, we have rapid car charging stations close by that guests can easily access if needed.
Recycling - we are lucky to have municipal recycling bins for paper and cardboard, glass plastic and metal containers, and garden clippings. We provide separate labelled bins in the cottage to help guests separate their trash.
Water - we have water tanks that collect rain that are used for some toilet and garden water. The cottage also has water efficient fittings throughout.
Linens - inside the cottage we use cotton sheets and towels that are laundered on site and dried on an outside washing line. We minimise the use of synthetic fibres to lessen the amount of microplastics going down the drain.
Products - all cleaning products and personal use products have minimal harmful chemicals in them. We order in bulk and refill containers for shampoo, soap, dishwashing liquid and dishwashing powder as needed.
As hosts there are lots of simple changes that we can all make that will lower our emissions and help attract like minded guests. Our guests are also a great source of inspiring stories about how others reduce their impact on the planet.