How To Make Your Home More Eco-Friendly
BY MIKEL HUBBARD
FORMER HGTV PRODUCER | CO-FOUNDER, THE HOST CO |
OWNER, TIMES EIGHT PROPERTY & DESIGN
As we move towards Earth Month this April, many of us are looking at our homes and lives and thinking, “how can we be switch to more sustainable methods?”
There are several ways that you can update your Airbnb to save the planet. Different types of cleaning products, low-flow shower heads, and LED lightbulbs will help — and can also save you some money while you’re at it. As we found in our research, decreasing energy usage also often decreases your energy bills for your short-term rental, and increases your earnings!
How to Make Your Home Eco-Friendly
Low Flow Shower Head
According to the EPA, showers cost the normal family 17% of their water use while indoors. That can be up to 30, even 40 gallons a day!
Many “low-flow shower heads” don’t actually have less water consumption, so it’s important to do your research on which companies are actually making their product below the maximum 2.5 gallons per minute.
We recommend the Delta 52672-15-BG Water Efficient Showerhead. It’s a great 1.5 gpm, and it complies with the EPA’s WaterSense program. Plus, it’s affordable at just under $22!
LED Lights
According to the Department of Energy, LED bulbs use up to 75% less energy than a typical light bulb. Many are solar powered, and can be used literally anywhere. Sounds like a sweet deal.
Did I mention that some of these things last insanely long? Like, up over 10,000 hours — or up to 10 years. (Check out the Philips 60W 2700K A19 LED Light Bulb.) Imagine how many guests that is staying in your rental.
Want to integrate convenience into your lights? There are also some you can control from your smart phone, like these Philips Smart Hue lights that you can control via Bluetooth in case your cleaner leaves the lights on accidentally between stays! These are also super durable — most LED lights are — and they contain no mercury, so that’s a huge plus.
Eco-Friendly Cleaning Products
Just like other eco-friendly products, there are the real and the fake ones. Organizations like the EPA and Green Seals have started using ecolabels to show consumers which products are actually safer, versus those that are faking it to get sales.
The two types of ecolabels to look for are Safer Choice, and Designed for the Environment. They both have to do with different types of products — dish cleaners versus other types of disinfectants.
For bathroom sprays: We recommend the Blueland Bathroom Cleaning Spray, whose formula comes from tablets — and the tablets that comes with the bottle creates up to 96 ounces of cleaning spray! They also have a variety of other products we recommend across cleaners for sinks and bathrooms.
For dishwasher detergent, we recommend Better Life’s Natural Dishwasher Gel Detergent, which sells for just over $12 and has absolutely ZERO phosphates, bleach, fragrances, dyes, or preservatives — it is 100% plant and mineral based.
For all-purpose cleaner, we found ourselves back at Blueland for their Multisurface All-Purpose Cleaning Kit — which, I don’t know if I mentioned above, but includes the bottle you can use forever. All you have to do is refill the tablets. So you can save plastic, alongside saving your space from toxic chemicals!
Or, make your own cleaning products - vinegar is generally the base for easy DIY cleaning solutions.
Sell healthy, ethically-sourced snacks in your Host Co store!
So many of the ways we produce food and packaging could be improved, whether by avoiding companies that under-pay workers, using products that minimize non-biodegradable packaging, and avoiding chemicals and additives that are bad for our bodies. Using your Host Co store in your Airbnb or VRBO, you can help promote healthy habits and alternatives when guests come into your place!
For sweets and chocolate, look no further than Alter Eco’s chocolate bars! Their mission statement is to go carbon neutral, support local farmers, replenish the Amazon rainforest, and produce organic, vegan, non-GMO treats. Pretty incredible.
There are other companies like Barnana trying to combat food waste by upcycling bananas that get thrown away, and turning them into dried snacks — whether just a little too ripe or a little bruised, most thrown out bananas are perfectly delicious. From plantain crisps to cookie brittle, it all starts with the bananas.
Finally, Clif Bars operate a carbon-neutral facility that is aiming to be completely waste free. Plus, they are more well known, and will definitely sell well in your stores!
Whether it’s by providing guests with healthier snacks that are ethically sourced, or by saving energy and switching to non-toxic cleaning products, there are so many companies out there looking to reduce our carbon and toxic footprint. There are so many not even mentioned here — the list is endless!
And share this with a host you think would benefit from saving this list!