Airbnb published a CleanTech Group study on its website yesterday – A greener way to travel: the environmental impacts of home sharing. The study finds using Airbnb promotes more efficient use of existing resources and is an environmentally sustainable way to travel. The conclusion is home sharing makes Airbnb greener travel than hotel stays.
The results of the study are summarized in the infographics, with comparisons of energy consumption, greenhouse gas emission, water use, waste production, sustainability awareness, and chemical use between airbnb rentals and energy efficient hotels.
North American highlights from the study include:
• In one year alone, Airbnb guests in North America saved the equivalent of 270 Olympic-sized pools of water while avoiding the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 33,000 cars on North American roads.
• Airbnb hosts also tend to engage in sustainable practices. Nearly 83 percent of Airbnb hosts in North America report owning at least one energy efficient appliance at their property.
• Less than half of Airbnb hosts in both North America and Europe provide single-use toiletry products for their guests, also reducing waste per stay.
• In North America, 95 percent of Airbnb hosts say they recycle at least one item type at their property; 94 percent of guests report that they recycle when possible.
• When staying at an Airbnb, guests are 10-15 percent more likely to use public transportation, walk or bicycle as their primary mode of transportation than if they had stayed at a hotel.
European highlights from the study include:
• In one year alone, Airbnb guests in Europe saved the equivalent of 1,100 Olympic-sized pools of water while avoiding the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 200,000 cars on European roads.
• Airbnb hosts also tend to engage in sustainable practices. Nearly 79 percent of Airbnb hosts in Europe report owning at least one energy efficient appliance at their property.
• Less than half of Airbnb hosts in both North America and Europe provide single-use toiletry products for their guests, also reducing waste per stay.
• In Europe, 89 percent of Airbnb hosts say they recycle at least one item type at their property; 94 percent of guests report that they recycle when possible.
• When staying at an Airbnb, guests are 10-15 percent more likely to use public transportation, walk or bicycle as their primary mode of transportation than if they had stayed at a hotel.
“These findings suggest that Airbnb, by the very nature of its business, has raised the bar in sustainable tourism to a level that the conventional travel industry will find hard to beat,” said Jonathan Tourtellot, Founding Director of the National Geographic Center for Sustainable Destinations.
The study had me looking at some of the 1,000 Airbnb listings for Norway. I particularly liked a listing for a property 2 hours by ferry from Bergen, Norway in a rural region on a fjord. The house has a dock and rowboat house guests can use. Price is $74 per night.
Bnb in Design house Rosendal, Norway.
Enter my world!
THE HOUSE:
Live in a charming house in Rosendal by the lovely Hardangerfjord. 30 metres of shoreline and a dock belongs to the property. It`s a 20 second walk from the house. There is a boat and oars there if you want to go offshore 🙂The Neighborhood
The close mountains! Climb nearby mountains! Amazing views, tough but lovely hikes.
Melderskin 1426 moh 7 hrs total up/down
Malmalmangernuten 890 mho 4,5 hrs total up/down
Kviteggjo 600 moh 3 hrs total up/down
Nordlifjell 972 moh 6 hrs total up/down
Tverrfjell 666 mho 3,5 hrs total up/down
Englafjell 1200 moh 7 hrs total up/down
Skaalafjell 501 moh 3 hrs total up/down
Nonshaug 810 moh 4 hrs total up/down
Kvanto 982 moh 5 hrs total up/down
Skeisfjell 1037 moh 5 hrs total up/down
Bjørndalstind traseen (website hidden) it. Magic!
Trips and more; Rosendal turlag, (website hidden), Visitsunnhordland.
Try a kaiak og climb the Folgefonn glacier at Wilderness Norway!Getting around
Walk.
Getting around on my feet is my standard green travel mode once I have reached my lodging.
