Cleaning neighbourhood for upcoming Airbnb guests

[Huaai0]

Yesterday, I took my puppy to clean the garbage in our neighbourhood. I have done this on a weekly basis for our community as well as my Airbnb guests. There has been to much dog poop in our neighbourhood and I don't want my guests to step on it. 

I also cleaned the plastic bags floating on the stream. Now it looks beautiful.

[Huaai0]

After cleaning...

[Huaai0]

after cleaning...

[Huaai0]

After a day's hard work, we went to a coffee shop to have a cup of Capuccino... We will be welcoming a new Airbnb guest from the U.S. soon.

[Lizzie]

This is amazing @Huaai0.

As it happens your post is very appropriately timed as it is Week for Good this week, as it is an opportunity for hosts and company members all over the world to come together to give back and support their neighborhoods, through volunteerism! It is fantastic to hear you do this every week, what a great thing to do for your local community. 🙂 Have you been doing this long?

It does look very pretty where you live. Do you ever have any other people join you?

Your very cute puppy looks like he/she is having a fun time and gets to explore the outdoors at the same time. What is his/her name? (You should take a look at the Meet the pets thread).

I think you definitely deserved your cappuccino, perhaps even a biscuit too! 🙂

Thanks so much for sharing this with us all. 

Lizzie

[Huaai0]

@Lizzie

Hello Lizzie,

Thanks very much for your kind words. I have been doing it since I moved here last October. When I just moved to this new neighbourhood I realized it was so different from the old neighbourhood where I had lived for the past 11 years. In my old neighbourhood, basically people could walk everywhere barefoot because it was very clean. Not only many neighbours there were involved the "adopt-a-block" volunteering work, picking up garbage with a garbage clip, many, many neighbours also did block watch voluntarily, so if someone did not pick up their dog's poop, someone might be watching you and walk up to remind you to clean up after your dog.

But this new neighbourhood is different. Most dog walkers do not clean up their dog. The better ones may pick up their dog's poop and put it in a plastic bag, but they just leave the bag in front of your fence, or on your drive way! Needless to say, too many people litter junk mail right outside of the community mail box. There is also grabage everywhere on the sidewalks and grass. I have had guests who stepped on dog poop and brought it into my house. In the beginning we had no idea where that odor came from until we found a long trace on my door mat straight into my house. 

I started to clean garbage and dog poop when I realized that someone had to take th lead. I collected bags and bags of plastic bags, lubch boxes, cigarette butts, beer bottles, boxes, banana and organge peels, abandoned toys, paper, junk mail, abandoned towels and clothing... Yesterday I also cleaned a neighbour's drive way, without them knowing. There had been so much litter on and aroud their drive way, and I have been confused why this family did not care about it at all?

I continue to clean, and people continue to litter. However, the good thing is, the more I clean, the less I can collect in my garbage bags.  My friends ask me to clean when those neighbours who litter garbage are around, so they can see it and maybe feel ashamed and inspired. But I feel that I'm not doing this for anyone to see. I believe that God is watching over each and everyone of us.

I can say my neighbourhood is much better now. You know, when it is super clean, people get more conscious of the environment, so they will tend to bring their garbage home. One of my previous Airbnb guests from China had his previous Airbnb in Japan prior to my place. He said that, as a heavy smoker, while in Japan he held his cigarette butts all the way from Tokyo to their aircraft and then back to China, because no one littered in Tokyo and he could hardly find any place to litter cigarette butts while there! That's why he brought them to China! It was like "When in Rome, do as Romans do."

[Huaai0]

@Lizzie

My toy poodle's name is Bowbow. He has been with me on holiday in New York, Paris, and Helsinki. We are planning to vacation in Europe again and we will be looking at pet friendly Airbnb. I have heard it is not easy to bring a pet to UK? 

[Huaai0]

@Lizzie

Bowbow in Paris...

So many friends of mine in North America are so jealous of Bowbow because they have long aspired to visit Europe and especially Paris, but have never been able to make it. They ask me how Bowbow felt about Paris. Well, I answered Bowbow didn't care at all lol. As long as he is with his master, he doesn't care where he is. If I were a street person, he would be just happy sleeping next to me on the street...

[Huaai0]

Bowbow at The Arc de Triomphe

[Andrea9]

@Huaai0

OMG Huai-Dhawa! Your little Bowbow is such a cutie!!!! and then in a blue and white little coat in Paris, that just makes my day  🙂

I can imagine all the other people who'd like to abduct him like me! oops, did I just say that!?

Great initiative your cleaning up work. Here in Amsterdam people have been talking about how to counter all the negative vibes, attitudes, and media coverage Airbnb is causing.

Somebody throw an  empty snack bag on the sidewalk? That's because of Airbnb.

Loud, raucous, and drunk tourists on one of the stupid beer bikes? Airbnb's fault.

Tourist high on weed sleeping in a doorway? Or a drunk person throwing up in a doorway? **bleep** Airbnb and all the tourists it has brought to town.

Never mind the cheep flight tourists who come, party all night and fly out in the morning and don't even need an Airbnb room.

Never mind the hundreds of tourists regurgitated from the cruise ships who go back to their own luxury cabins, no thanks to Airbnb hosts.

Never mind that a lot of tourists are booked in the many 'illegal' accommodations (Airbnb, Wimdu, Booking.com, etc.) that thumb their nose at city regulations.

A number of us responsibly-minded hosts got together last year and talked about how to counter this, at least how to show our fellow condo owners or the neighborhood we care and don't want to do this on their backs. Even if this is only to soothe ruffled feathers. So we came up with little ideas of how to show it:

by taking it upon ourselves to replace a burnt-out bulb in the general stairs,

or taking on the cleaning of the general hallway and stairs that our guests use,

or picking up the trash outside the house,

and other little things that will register with people that you care.

You went above and beyond, and really showed love to your environment. I hope your neighbors noticed and will never, ever begrudge your short stay rental! And besides it all, besides some sore muscles it does tend to leave a very satisfying inner glow at having cleaned up a part of one's personal slice of earth to reflect it's true beauty again!

[Huaai0]

Thanks for your reply and sorry that I was not able to respond sooner. Well, I guess this topic is bringing me to two other topics: 1) How do we deal with irresponsible dog owners in the neighbourhood and 2) If we decide to host Airbnb guests with a pet, what should we expect? Currently, I'm in the process of negotiating pet issues with an upcoming Airbnb guest who claims to have a "well trained" and "super friendly" dog.

I have stated in my House Rules that a guest may bring a small size dog given the size of the room. I also stated that the dog should not be left unattended in the rental unit unless placed in a kennel. I have amended this term multiple times based on previous experiences. I hosted a woman with a 12 year old Yorkshire without teeth (due to too much tartar and plaque! and never cleaned/scaled!) last November. During the day she was out looking for jobs and her dog was left in the room crying desperately. Maybe she was too old to scratch the door. I had a small dog years ago who would scratch the door like crazy if left home by the owner! I told her that she could have let her out and I wouldn't mind looking after her dog for free. After her stay, I revised my pet policy and asked all guests with pets to ensure their pets are not left unattended. They could use the day care service in the neighbourhood.

Also, when guests walk their dogs in the neighbourhood, should I warn them about picking up dog poop and about vicious dogs in the neighbourhood? I worked in Waterloo ON for two years and stayed in a terrible neighbourhood for a while where people just let their dog run around off-leash.

On March 26, 2016, I was walking my toy poodle, Bowbow, on the road, when a vicious husky attacked Bowbow from behind. The owners of the husky, a man and a woman, let their dog run around off-leash. 

Although we managed to drag away the husky eventually, the attack left Bowbow with multiple puncture wounds and fluid pockets, soaked in blood and trembling in fear. The woman yelled at me and then ran away with her husky instantly. The man stayed but did not seem to show any sympathy, and I got his name and phone number.

A lady who was passing by in her car happened to witness the scene. She pulled over, got out of her car, and offered her sweatshirt to stop Bowbow's bleeding. She also drove us first to an animal hospital, which was closed like all the other hospitals during Easter, and then to the Kitchener/Waterloo Humane Society, where we filed a report and where the staff had a quick look at Bowbow's wounds. They recommended an animal hospital in Cambridge, which was open till 10:00 pm. The samaritan, Cathy Daly, truly helped us a lot, especially when I was in such a state of shock and did not know where to go or what to do. 

With the expensive medications, Bowbow healed very fast. After a few days I got together with Cathy at the Starbucks in Waterloo's Chapters bookstore. The Starbucks was filled with compassion, friendliness, and warmth. Cathy and I have become good friends.

I'm attaching pictures of Bowbow after the attack and of the good samaritan woman, Cathy Daly. 

 

[Huaai0]