We’ve talked a lot about energy recently, sharing articles on how owners can reduce their energy consumption and running webinars on installing renewable energy technologies. But how do you get your guests to be climate-conscious and reduce their usage, whilst allowing them all the holiday hedonism we all want from a well-earned break? Our team has come up with some creative ideas – you might like to try some of these out, or come up with your own.

Lighting

• Make sure turning things off is intuitively designed. I.e., where is the switch to your outside light? Make it easy to access and clearly marked, so guests don’t have to go outside to switch it off. Can you pop it on a timer? Consider how guests could override this if they’re still sat out late at night.
• Invest in some ambient lighting which give a sense of warmth and comfort in the space. This may make people feel that bit warmer.

Heating

• Provide tempting alternatives to stay warm: luxury cosy blankets, hot water bottles.
• Provide well-seasoned and good kindling and eco-firelighters, as well as providing really clear instructions on how to use the wood burner. All of this will ensure they burn efficient fires and get the space up to temperature quickly. Remind them to close the vents once it’s going, so it burns slower.
• Consider lighting a fire prior to guests arriving if they have set check in time. This will warm the space up and avoid the guest turning on every appliance just to get warm.
• If you have a good supply of wood – inspire them to cook outside on the open fire – provide a campfire cook-book.
• The psychology of seeing the thermostat is likely to encourage people to fiddle about with it, so if you can pop it out of sight this may prevent people turning the heat up.
• If you can, include a Smart Meter in the space – allowing guests to see their consumption live.

Engagement

• Tell guests the story about where your energy comes from. Educate guests and maybe even take ideas home with them, i.e., if you have a wind turbine, tell guests about it, where they can see it – how it works and how much energy it provides. Make it fun and relatable i.e., name your wind turbine, give it a character and have a noticeboard somewhere which talks them in first person.
• Make sure you share your environmental practices with guests. They won’t want to being bombarded with all the details but would usually be interested in the main points.
• Make sure you’re telling your guests you care about the environment in everything you do. This could be making sure your toiletries and products are all eco, or food essentials you provide are local and plastic free. If they see it’s part of your values, they’ll feel inspired to get on board too.
• Get creative – for example we once saw a bike powered juice stall at Glastonbury – if you wanted a juice, you had to work for it. It’s a fun way to engage guests with how power is created.
• Use language which makes it inspiring rather than telling off i.e., ‘turn off all the lights in the cabin so you can see the stars better outside’ ‘Cook on the open fire – for a new adventure’.
• Can you give recommendations on small changes guests can make in their own homes? Passing on knowledge and effecting change even once the holiday has finished.

Appliances

• Got a TV? Keep it out of sight and Inspire guests to keep it off by sharing a selection of epic board games instead.
• Inspire guests to ‘unplug’ introduce a phone detox box – lock your phone away for the weekend and don’t charge it.
• Follow Dr Alan Owen’s Tips and measure the energy demand from each of your appliances. Doing an analysis like this will, help you decide what to include and what guests might live without (I.e., a hairdryer!).
• Small kettle – if the space is for a small number of people, consider proportioning the size of appliances. This will save people boiling more than they need and using more energy unnecessarily.
• Consider how many sockets guests will actually need – can you cover some over to help limit the number in use by guests? This will get them to think about what energy they need at one time. Also consider the convenience of where these are placed.