Guide to Eco-Friendly Holiday Letting: How to Be More Sustainable

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In recent years, as many of us have become increasingly aware of our personal responsibilities in tackling the issue of waste and protecting the planet, sustainable tourism and eco-holidays have gained momentum.

Here’s an easy-to-follow guide on how to make your holiday home more sustainable and encourage guests to have a more eco-friendly stay.

The benefits of running an eco-friendly holiday home

Like hotels, holiday lets have a responsibility to consider sustainability for several reasons:

• Running a sustainable holiday cottage can be a great way to attract more bookings. OTAs have search categories for eco-friendly holiday cottages or cottages with a charging point. Appearing in searches for these categories can boost your visitor traffic and differentiate your property in a competitive market.
• Travellers often seek out accommodation that aligns with their values, including sustainability. By prioritizing eco-friendly practices, you can attract eco-conscious guests who will generally take better care of your property. They’re also likely to reduce electricity usage where possible and waste. This means lower bills and less damage.
• By implementing sustainable practices, you’re making a difference and inspiring guests to adopt similar eco-friendly practices in their everyday lives once they return home.
• Measures such as installing energy-efficient appliances and reducing waste not only benefit the environment but also lead to cost savings in the long run.

How to make your holiday cottage eco-friendly

Use eco-friendly products

Swap out single-use plastic bottles of shampoo, conditioner, soap and, body wash for more sustainable refillable alternatives.

Many laundry and cleaning products contain harmful chemicals that can damage the environment. Natural cleaning products can be just as effective and can be less harmful to people who have skin allergies.

To reduce the number of disposable items you use during changeover, use washable microfibre cleaning cloths. This will ensure that you’re not throwing away cleaning materials at the end of every changeover.

You can also reduce the amount of harmful plastics used by buying reusable containers and investing in products with eco-friendly packaging.

Waste management and recycling

Encourage guests to adhere to your recycling policy. Provide separate bins for recyclables and landfill items. Leave clear recycling instructions on what can go in which bin, when the recycling is collected, and where to leave it on collection day. Encourage guests to dispose of any biodegradable food waste in a hot compost bin.

If you offer food in a welcome pack, monitor which items are often wasted and remove them. If you provide a coffee machine, find a supplier that provides biodegradable capsules that can be recycled. When furniture needs replacing, donate it to second-hand organisations.

Provide reusable shopping bags so guests don’t have to buy plastic shopping bags when they do their shopping. To cut down on the amount of foil or cling film that guests use, leave tupperware for them to use.

Smart heating

Ideally, you should be servicing your boiler every 12 months to ensure it’s safe, working efficiently, and to spot any issues before they become beyond repair.

You can prevent energy wastage by wrapping your hot water cylinder in a jacket and fitting foam tubes around exposed pipes between the cylinder and boiler. You could also add thermostatic radiator valves as an extra measure.

A web-enabled smart thermostat is a great energy-saving investment to make your life easier, save you money, and improve the guest experience. They enable you to control the temperature from a mobile device remotely. No more worrying about guests leaving the heating on when they depart or pipes freezing. You can also increase the temperature remotely before guests arrive, so your property is warm and cozy upon their arrival.

If your boiler is old, it may be time to upgrade to a more efficient model. This not only saves you money and helps the environment, it also has a positive impact on your property’s energy rating.

Provide an electric vehicle charging point

Many guests are opting for a more sustainable way of travel and investing in an electric or hybrid vehicle. By providing an EV charger at your holiday home, you are increasing your eco-credentials and giving your holiday let greater appeal for eco-friendly travellers.

Invest in energy efficient appliances

Appliances like fridges, freezers, microwaves, washing machines, tumble dryers, and dishwashers are traditionally the biggest energy consumers in holiday homes. By investing more in their efficiency, it is possible to generate considerable savings with these products over time.

A good way to cut down on your energy expenditure would be to invest in energy-efficient appliances that are A+ rated, ideally A+++ rated.

It’s also important that appliances are the right size for the number of guests you accommodate, so you don’t waste energy. For example, you’ll need a washing machine with a family size drum in a property that sleeps 4.

Install energy efficient lighting

As well as being better for the environment, replacing the bulbs in your holiday home with LED alternatives saves on your electricity bills each year. Energy-efficient light bulbs also last around 25 times longer, so you won’t have to replace them as much.

If guests tend to leave lights on when they depart, use smart light switches that let you turn off your lights remotely which cuts down on wasted energy. If you have outside lights, install motion-sensor lighting or lights on a timer so that they are only on when they need to be.

Save water

Reducing the amount of water wastage at your holiday cottage is not only good for the environment but could also reduce your water and electricity bills.

• Help your guests to use less water by fitting flow-reducers and aerators to taps.
• Choose water-efficient shower heads.
• Install dual-flush toilets when they need replacing.
• Use a water butt to collect rainwater that can be used to water the plants in your garden.
• Provide a water filter jug and reusable bottles in the kitchen so guests buy less plastic bottled water during their stay.
• Encourage guests to do all their washing at once rather than in several small loads.

Switch to renewable energy sources

The easiest way to reduce your carbon footprint is to choose a green energy tariff that sources electricity from renewables like wind and solar.

Switching to renewable energy sources for your electricity and heating is a great way to make your holiday home eco-friendly and save on your energy bills. Renewable energy can be generated by solar power, solar heating, heat source pumps, and wind energy. The cost of the initial outlay be can expensive, but it is a long-term investment. If you produce more energy than you use, you can even sell it back to the National Grid.

Sustainable construction

If your holiday let is being renovated, here are some eco-friendly suggestions.

• Use sheep’s wool insulation to reduce heat loss and improve energy efficiency.
• Recyclable steel rainwater systems instead of plastic.
• Double or triple-glazed windows and doors exceeding building regulations.
• Cavity wall insulation.

Nature enhancements

• Planting native trees and hedges.
• Reseeding with wildflowers.
• Adding a pond to become a wildlife habitat.
• Preserving existing bat roost spaces and bird nesting holes, or adding additional boxes.

Encourage guests with eco-friendly suggestions

It’s likely that a significant proportion of your guests will already be mindful about how their day-to-day living habits might be affecting the environment. However, some guests will be better than others in this respect, so it doesn’t do any harm to leave some friendly reminders around your holiday home to inspire sustainable tourism.

Include a small explanation of your eco-friendly endeavours in your guestbook and provide some tips to encouraging your guests to behave in an eco-friendly manner during their stay.

For example, ask guests to turn off the lights, appliances, and close the windows when leaving the property. Don’t have the heating or A/C running with windows open.

Provide information on the local bus or train routes, so guests can leave their car behind for the day and use public transport. Recommend a local bike hire provider or encourage guests to bring their own bike by providing an on-site hose down point to clean bikes and indoor secure bike storage.

Support local businesses

To contribute positively to the local economy, actively encourage guests to support local businesses – farmers’ markets, shops, pubs, cafes, restaurants, and tourist attractions. Purchasing a product that’s made locally or regionally, helps lower carbon emissions across the supply chain by minimising transit.

Eco-friendly marketing opportunities

Short term rental listing sites realise that environmentally concerned guests want to book sustainable accommodation and have created ‘sustainability’ filters in their search. Some listing sites have also created a badge that recognises properties that are making sustainable changes.

Mention all the eco-friendly modifications you have made to your property on your OTA listings to appear when users search for eco-friendly holiday cottages.

You should also promote the specific measures you’ve put in place to be sustainable on your website. Create a page dedicated to your sustainability initiatives, how guests can be more eco-friendly, and what you plan to do in the future. Display the logos of any green tourism awards or certifications that verify that you uphold recognised sustainability standards.

Finally…

We hope that these suggestions have inspired you to reassess the eco-friendliness of your holiday home. By implementing some eco-friendly changes to your holiday let, not only are you doing your bit for the planet, but you’re also reducing your bills and showing guests you’re a responsible holiday home owner.

Even the smallest changes make a difference, so please share your tips in the comments.