Touché! That’s what came to mind when reading Airbnb’s recent press release touting the reduced environmental footprint of the travelers booking places to stay through its website. According to the San Francisco-based company, which says more than 17 million travelers have used its website since its founding in 2008, in North America, Airbnb guests use 63 percent less energy than hotel guests. I was a bit taken aback that Airbnb, with its research partner, Cleantech Group, had actually thrown out a specific number like 63 percent. But hey, what do I know?
Airbnb and Cleantech Group came to their conclusion after analyzing more than 8,000 survey responses from Airbnb hosts and guests worldwide (from February 2014 to April 2014) and conducted research on residential and hotel sustainability levels and practices. For the values presented in this study, Cleantech Group compared residences to the most sustainable and energy-efficient hotels. Data reflecting the top 5th percentile hotels (in terms of energy use) from an Energy Star report was compared to residential energy data for the 40 to 50th percentile of homes in North America. A similar approach was used in Europe.
According to Airbnb, in one year, its 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. Also, these guests are 10 to 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.
Host Behavior Also Researched
Airbnb and Cleantech Group considered not only guest behavior but also host behavior as well. According to the study, nearly 83 percent of Airbnb hosts in North America report owning at least one energy efficient appliance at their property. (Doesn’t just about everyone at this point?) Less than half of Airbnb hosts in both North America provide single-use toiletry products for their guests, reducing waste per stay. (Are folks sharing bars of soap? Having to bring their own? Using dispensers?) Also, in North America, 95 percent of Airbnb hosts say they recycle at least one item type at their property (a rate higher than I have seen for hotels); 94 percent of guests report that they recycle when possible.
I have not spoken yet with the folks at Airbnb to understand their motives for conducting such a study but it is clear the site appeals to a certain type of traveler and Airbnb is trying to build an image of free-spiritedness, progressiveness, and stinginess when it comes to consuming natural resources.
I am sure there is some validity in the study’s findings but I also suspect there are travelers who utilize Airbnb who are just as wild with their consumption of energy and water as those who stay in hotels. And, there are most certainly hosts who have yet to install high-efficiency toilets, aerators, low-flow showerheads, digital thermostats, LED lighting, and guestroom energy management systems. Clearly, there are a lot of hotel rooms that are more resource-efficient than homes, apartments, castles and other places you might find on Airbnb.
I do give the founders of Airbnb a lot of credit for coming up with such an ingenius idea. Perhaps it is time for the hotel industry here in North America to fight back with its own stories of resource conservation? There most definitely are a lot of good stories to tell.
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