Sustainability through Sustonica – the Casiola journey – Episode 1

Can a vacation home be both fun and eco-friendly? Casiola is trying to find out. They’re taking on a big challenge, making their homes more sustainable and earning the Systemica certification. It’s not always easy, but it might just be worth it. Let’s follow their journey and see what it takes to go green in the world of vacation rentals.

Ah, so they finally have an answer for us.  Let’s see if it’s good or bad news.

All right, let me tell you about Casiola’s approach to sustainability. When my wife and I first started managing just a few vacation homes, we didn’t really think about the impact we had on the environment or our community. It all felt so small, just a few properties, a few guests. We were doing our best and I figured it’s probably not that big of a deal. But as we grew, I started seeing the numbers. Thousands of rolls of toilet paper and paper towels each month. Over a hundred thousand dollars in electricity bills we paid for our owners. Piles of trash collected from our guests every single day. And that’s when it hit me. Well, we were busy running our business. We were making a real impact on the planet and our community. And that’s when I knew we had to do something. With our footprint this big and only growing, we have a real opportunity and responsibility to make a meaningful difference. So first we made the changes internally. And now after doing that for a while, we’re ready to take the next step, inspiring our owners and guests and join us in making a difference.

Good morning, everybody. Thank you for being here. I really appreciate it. Today we are going to review something that is really important to Casiola. And that is sustainability. Specifically, we’re going to look at a company called Sustonica. Sustonica has a certification process for our vacation rentals. And they look at four main criteria. First, they’re going to look at energy efficiency. Second, waste management. Third, water efficiency. And finally, community. Booking.com is going to help us with this process. In collaboration with UN Tourism, they’ve created some amazing sustainability courses for us all to learn. The beauty about these courses is you can work through them at your own pace. And at the end of each, there’s a Q&A to make sure that you understand the material.

Russ, what do you think the owners think about the certification? That’s a great question. So I think there’ll be maybe some current concerns. They might be concerned about the cost of it. But the cost is relatively small compared to the benefits. The benefits of increased bookings. And the benefits of just treating our beautiful planet better.

Ross, I have a question. What are the benefits of sustainability for our guests? Well, what is really great about us is we can influence people all around the world. So we have an opportunity to show what sustainability can do for our planet. And that’s what we’re going to do. What were your first thoughts when Dennis presented the sustainability mission? It seemed like a very interesting proposal, as the company is teaching us and creating awareness of how we can protect our environment and thus leave our future generations the best in the world. Why we decided to start the process of getting our properties sustainability certified? More and more travelers, especially Gen Z care about sustainability. And they’re not just talking about it, they’re booking based on it. Some data even shows that sustainable accommodations get up to 9% more bookings. What convinced us to start the certification process was the fact that booking.com is valuing the certifications and that they will get that information out to our customers who are going to be seeing this on the internet. So it’s not just me saying, hey, look at what I’ve done in my home, but someone else is advocating for that as well. And it’s someone that my customer can trust on the outside instead of just taking my word for it. And also more and more booking websites like booking.com are adding sustainability filters. They make it easier for guests to book eco-friendly homes while helping homeowners track more bookings and lower their costs. So for me, it’s really a win-win for everyone. All right team, it’s all hands on deck. It’s going to be a lot of work, but it’s also going to be a lot of fun. Thank you.