How vegan-friendly is your listing?

Sybe
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
Terneuzen, Netherlands

How vegan-friendly is your listing?

Sybe_0-1660561224372.jpeg

 

Hi everyone, 

 

Living more ethically, with the planet, the environment, people and animals in mind, has become an important focus for many these days. This often translates into lifestyle changes, however big or small, and as a result veganism is a way of life that has continuously been growing in popularity.

 

While for most, being vegan relates to a diet only, it can be about way more than just what one eats. From the cleaning products that you use, to the essential amenities you provide or even the materials of some furniture pieces in your home, there’s a lot to consider!

 

With that in mind, I am curious: how vegan-friendly is your listing? 

 

I’d love to hear if this is something you’re consciously considering in the day-to-day running of your listing, if you’ve made some accidentally vegan choices that you’re really happy with, or if that’s a conversation you’ve ever had with your guests!

 

Thanks!

Sybe

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25 Replies 25
Mike-And-Jane0
Level 10
England, United Kingdom

@Sybe Our daughter is a Vegan - This is more than enough for us so there is no way we will make our apartments Vegan as well!

…sigh…

Ted307
Level 10
Prescott, AZ

@Sybe 

I have had a few vegan guests. We always leave our eggs in the frig, with butter and English muffins for breakfast. The one asked me if I fed my chickens & ducks organic or vegetarian feed. These birds are right there in the yard, so I pointed out to her that I could not keep them from eating bugs and worms and that the feed could have some animal protein, & it is not organic either. I just pointed out to her that our pet chickens & ducks live far better lives than factory egg-layers do. She seemed satisfied with this answer. She later said the eggs were "heavenly" and that it was the first time she had eaten eggs in years. Some people can't bear to eat meat & eggs once they learn the facts about how these things get to the store. Good for them, they beat a path to my door and get on the list for us to sell them my girl's eggs! One guy always thanks me when he buys eggs, and tells me that I am performing a community service with our eggs.Flock_web.jpgHere are a few of our hens on the lawn, along with the rooster who went to live with a friend who could keep him in the country. I hope I can get some eggs from her to hatch next spring. Our guests love to see the chicks!

Ted & Chris
Sybe
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
Terneuzen, Netherlands

@Ted307 They all look very happy, I can imagine the eggs are quite wonderful as well! There are many different reasons why someone chooses to be vegan, animal cruelty being a major one, and sometimes it's enough to show that the animals do lead a good life and are happy. Plus keeping chickens is very sustainable!

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@Sybe 

Yes, I have a container by the stove for scraps and egg shells to give back to the chickens. People love it. Chickens love it when the guest puts in the bacon grease, and my pipes appreciate it too! Now, guests are not putting grease down the drain because they love the idea that they are giving back to the chickens. Grease and plate scrapings are their favorite.

 

I do use a cleaning product called "Simple Green" kept under the sink if guests prefer a less toxic cleaner. Palmolive dish soap for the rest. A new, wrapped sponge or cotton dish cloths for the environmentalists. Even those vegetarians usually use the commercial plastic sponge!

 

I no longer provide Clorox bleach-based spray since a guest bleached one of the floor mats trying to clean it. I use it when I clean surfaces due to Covid. Not very organic or environmentally friendly, but toxic to Covid beats environmental friendliness lately.

Ted & Chris

@Ted307 I love the rooster I had one not disimilar called Arnie. He loved to wake us and the neighbours with his carolling at 4am . The neighbours took him on a vacation I found out later.H

also a little fact about chickens and birds and protein. Birds cannot lay eggs with out at a quite high proportion of protein in their diet. and my mum who always kept chickens would never feed her chickens egg shells as she said it encouraged the birds to eat their own eggs  H

@Helen744 

Chickens are omnivores, and love meat. I mash up the egg shells into the other leavings they get, I do not notice any increase in egg eating. If an egg breaks, they will eat it no matter what!

The rooster had to go due to a neighbor calling in a complaint, most of our customers and neighbors were fine with him. But, there is always one complainer! He was a beautiful bird, named him "Randy" for obvious reasons!

Ted & Chris
Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Sybe 

 

I would never advertise my listings as 'vegan' or even 'vegan friendly' in any way. Each guest gets a shelf in the fridge and some space in the cupboard for their food, but if they got offended (none have) that people had other animal products nearby, it would be a bit of a nightmare. I think it's way too complicated unless you are a vegan yourself and only take vegan guests. 

 

That being said, I've hosted quite a few vegan guests and none of them seemed bothered about any of that. I've yet to encounter a vegan guest who expected the listing or others staying there to correlate to their choices. 

@Sybe @Huma0 

All eating habits are welcome here! I would not put it in my listing that I cater specially to any particular life style. I put a photo of the chickens in the listing in case some do not want to be here with them.

Ted & Chris
Sybe
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
Terneuzen, Netherlands

@Huma0 @Ted307 Perhaps a mini fridge in each room would solve that, though each person has their own preferences and some indeed don't mind when meat is stored in the same fridge or sometimes even cooked in the same pan. Besides that, it has to remain feasible. 

 

Making your listing vegan is about way more than just food though. Think about anything cruelty. E.g. are the feathers in your pillows synthetic or real? Has that bar of soap you provide been tested on animals? 

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@Sybe 

Our place has it's own 10 cubic foot frig -- I do include non-vegan treats like butter in there, some people do not use the butter, they use the olive oil which I have in the cupboard for them. I would think that people who are vegan due to their religion and do not want to cook in a kitchen that has cooked meat & eggs would not be attracted to our place. But, cooking your own food the way you want it, with ingredients of your own, is the reason some guests  prefer our bunkhouse. It has a very complete & usable old fashioned kitchen which is not shared.

I do provide hand soap in a dispenser, and body wash for the shower. Some people who are concerned about things like animal testing of products would bring their own that they are sure meet their requirements, I expect. I haven't had anyone ask me about things like that, like I had a conversation about my birds. I do not provide feather pillows, I have enough feathers to clean up without paying for more! I have in my listing for people who have a feather allergy not to consider our place. A feather could get tracked in on peoples feet! Our floors are all easy to mop vinyl but people do not remove their shoes and track in everything.

Ted & Chris
Huma0
Level 10
London, United Kingdom

@Sybe 

 

All good points. I have to say though that I have never had any vegan guests ask me about pillows or soap or anything else!

 

This is going to be controversial, I know, but I believe that, for a lot of people, veganism is a trend rather than a true conviction. People who are vegan because they have a strong belief about it will bring their own soap and ask about the pillows. 

 

The vegans I have hosted have asked no such thing and some of them will eat sushi , but only when they go to a restaurant...

Sybe
Former Community Manager
Former Community Manager
Terneuzen, Netherlands

@Huma0 That is a really interesting point and makes me think about what exactly is a "trend" in that sense. Do people do it because it's popular and others are doing it and they just want to follow along, or did this trend shine a different light on the subject for them which eventually led to their decision?

 

I'm not sure I'm making much sense there. I'll try it with a better example, the non-binary spectrum. There are people that say this is a trend and people are identifying as non-binary and using pronouns more because it's now popular. This could be true, however, it could also be that because it is now trending, people are becoming aware of it and have more understanding of the topic and perhaps can relate more to it now than before.

 

If you're vegan but you do eat fish, I believe that's called pescetarianism and it's quite common!

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