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| UnCommon Sense Case Studies - Mountain Home: Monta |
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MOUNTAIN HOME: Montana Vacation Rentals, Inc.
Property Management Co for Short-term Vacation Rentals, Bozeman, MT
mountain-home.com
Reasons for Applying
As an environmental science major, Mountain Home owner Suzy Hall was
always concerned about the footprint she left in her personal life. But
as the owner of a vacation rental property management company with 70
properties, she was keenly aware that her personal values about
environmental stewardship were not a part of her business. Before
joining UnCommon Sense, she felt there were three major roadblocks to
Mountain Home implementing sustainable practices: 1) she
didn’t
have the skills needed, 2) she didn’t have the time to become
educated and 3) she feared how they would be received, much less
adopted, by her property owners, the rental guests and her own staff.
Benefits Received
The weekend training format of UnCommon Sense solved the first two
hurdles. Hall credits the program with giving her not just tools and
resources, but more importantly the courage to make changes. Her fears
turned out to be unfounded, and the changes have all been well
received. While most are hard to measure, Hall has reached a lot of
people with the message of how to reduce, reuse and recycle. Mountain
Home created their own “Green Homes Program,” where
they
initially invited eight of their property owners to use gentler
cleaning products, switch at least 75% of lighting to compact
fluorescents, provide recycled and chlorine-free paper products and
provide recycling containers for guests. In the second year, 22 owners
committed to these four requirements. In exchange for participation,
the program’s icon is displayed on the property as well as
the
home’s description on the website. They have only received
positive responses from both home owners and guests. Twenty of their 45
professional housekeepers have also switched to using environmentally
friendly cleaners, again with positive results. Hall has had even
greater reach within her industry. For two years she had lobbied the
600-member Vacation Rental Managers Association (VRMA) to include
educational seminars on sustainability at their annual meetings. In
2007 VRMA agreed to do so, and Julie Klein, program advisor for
UnCommon Sense, spoke to 75 attendees. Mountain Home has been asked to
conduct a similar seminar next year with even more specifics on what
rental managers can do with their businesses. Because most of their
properties are rural, Mountain Home decided to invest in a carbon-
offset program. With 45 housecleaners driving to far-off properties,
along with four office staff racking up almost 12,000 miles a year in
daily commutes, the business purchased offsets for almost 6000 air
miles and 31,000 driving miles. All of these efforts resulted in
Mountain Home receiving a Montana EcoStar Award and positive media
exposure.
Bottom Line Results
• Reduced the use of toxic
cleaning chemicals used in cleaning their rentals
• Reduced waste and energy use
in 22 homes through their Green Home Program
• Changed the culture of their
industry through education
• Reduced the impact of their
carbon footprint by purchasing offsets
CLICK
HERE TO SEE THEIR FINAL REPORT POWERPOINT PRESENTATION
CLICK
HERE TO SEE THEIR WRITTEN FINAL REPORT
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