Travel, Trash, and a $2 Billion Problem You Can Help Fix

If you’re the type of vacation renter who hopes the cleaning crew will want your leftovers in the fridge at check-out — or you feel guilty throwing them away — you’re not alone. 

A recent study published in the journal Waste Management surveyed 502 adults who stayed in a short-term rental within the past year and estimated that the average guest wastes $12 worth of food per night, adding up to about $2 billion in food waste per year among vacationers who stay in short-term rentals in the U.S. 

About three-fourths of the respondents also said they’d be interested to hear advice from hosts about what to do with leftover food.

Some travel influencers, non-profit organizations, and short-term rental hosts are listening, thinking about ways to reduce vacation food waste, and offering strategies to fellow travelers and hosts.

Reducing food waste as a traveler

For Kristen Krause, creator of The Frugal Girl, managing food waste as a vacationer starts even before her trip begins. 

The week before she leaves on a trip, she tries to use up the contents of her fridge. If she can’t consume it all, she freezes what can be preserved and packs the rest, either in a cooler if she’s roadtripping, or as snacks if she’s flying. When Krause is on a road trip, she packs staples like salt and pepper, coffee, tea, and cooking oil.

Then, when Krause gets to her destination and goes grocery shopping, she tries to buy just enough, but errs on the side of purchasing too little, rather than too much. “I consider what I and any fellow travelers could reasonably eat during the trip,” she says. “I’d rather make an extra grocery stop later in the trip than overbuy in one big trip and then have to throw food away!” 

During her trip, Krause eats out a few times to enjoy the local cuisine, but prepares most meals at home to minimize waste. She eats perishable items first so that whatever’s left over at the end of the vacation will be easier to pack.

On the last night of a road trip, she freezes what she can, such as dairy items, which can conveniently double as ice packs and prevent spoiling. If she’s flying, she’s not above tucking extra snacks into her luggage.

Every short-term rental needs a simple system 

Even with these habits, Krause admits she never ends up with zero food waste. Although leaving food for the house cleaner seems like a good idea, most travel from job to job without fridge access or the ability to use the amount of surplus they’d collect, explains Diane Daniel, the founder of the non-profit organization Vacation Donations. 

That’s where a host’s own initiatives could help travelers like Krause reduce their footprint even further, Daniel says. 

“Most people really don’t like throwing out food … but they just don’t want to work at doing that on vacation,” Daniel says. 

Daniel believes every donation system should fit the needs of the local community. Is there a nearby food pantry guests should be aware of? What about a food donation bin in the lobby?

At the very least, hosts can label a shelf inside the short-term rental where guests can leave unused nonperishables for the next visitors. 

However it works best, Daniel encourages hosts to be sure to tell guests about the procedures through check-in/checkout instructions, a guidebook, a quick welcome message, or a fridge magnet to increase visibility.

Getting involved with local food banks

When Stacey Rase noticed her guests continually left behind dried food in her Airbnb’s pantry, she visited her local food bank and collected a stack of brown paper bags.

She then drafted a letter encouraging her guests to be part of the local community by donating leftovers or shopping grocery store “two-for-one” deals with the food bank in mind and provided them with the donation bags. 

Her efforts were immediately well-received. Guests scribbled her thank-you notes and sent texts, sharing how happy they were to contribute.

A few years later, Rase became a community leader with Airbnb. She now leads a group in East Baton Rouge, Louisiana, with 350 members committed to running food bank initiatives and volunteering together. As an Airbnb ambassador, Rase also encourages new hosts to support their local food drives.

“I think it’s a small step in what could be a really big step in the right direction to making this a worldwide project,” Rase says. “It just seems so simple for hosts to do, and it’s a small thing that can make a big impact.”

What about composting?

“If you can eat it, it goes in here,” reads the sticker on the lid of Jennifer Schnier’s green compost bin at her Airbnb. The bin sits in her locked garage next to the recycle and trash bins, making it easy for guests to participate. 

Schnier says she runs the only B-Corp certified Airbnb in the world, meaning her listing meets strict social and environmental requirements, including reducing carbon footprint, conserving materials, and using sustainable practices.

Because her guests recycle and compost, they produce very little trash. One of her most recent week-long groups left only half a bag of garbage — but filled the compost bin. Sometimes Schnier collects as much as 15 pounds of compost in a week, averaging about three pounds of compost per guest.

For guests who already recycle and compost at home, Schnier says a host’s sustainability efforts will make them feel more comfortable and valued.

Schnier recommends hosts start by checking if the local municipality collects compost. If so, the next step is to access a collection site or arrange pickup. 

If not, hosts can encourage guests to compost on-site. Sarah Janson, the assistant manager at the Hike Inn, a Georgia backcountry inn, says there are “plenty of ways to get rid of or reuse food before just throwing it in the trash.” 

For short-term rentals, Janson recommends trying worm bins. They come in different shapes and sizes, even stackable bins. Typically, you need about two square feet of space per person and about one pound of worms per square foot of space, Janson says, as worms eat only about half their body weight each day.  Although the worms can eat only fruit and vegetable scraps (with limited seasoning), crushed eggshells, shredded paper, and coffee grounds, Janson says this kind of composting can still help reduce waste. (Learn more about worm composting and other composting methods here.)

“There is a whole travel movement that they just want to take memories and only leave footprints,” Schnier says. They want to live, travel, and eat like a local, she says, meaning that “they want to be able to go and get their food from the local market, bring it home, cook it, prepare it, and then dispose of it the way the locals do.” 

Schnier recalls staying at an Airbnb in Indonesia where the compost bin was labeled “Food for the cow.” It made her feel part of the local community — and more aware of what she put in the bin.