Updated on May 15, 2024

Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.
Warren Buffett

Occasionally, it’s pure luck that brings us some of the greatest outcomes.

The rest of the time, it’s good planning. This time last year, we laid out our 3×300 Sustainability Challenge, a 300-day team undertaking to reduce our carbon footprints, save water, reduce waste, and more. We planned to take our efforts step by step, making sustainable swaps and adjusting our habits over the course of 10 months.

The challenge kicked off June 27, and when it ended 300 days later – Earth Day 2024 – we had reduced our carbon emissions by nearly 10% and water usage by more than 13,000 gallons/month! (Want to do the same in your rentals? Check out our tips for this and many other ways to optimize your STRs in the RR Network.)

While this is a solid start, we have a lot of work left to do. We’ve also signed the Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action on Tourism, a commitment to halve emissions over the next decade and reach net zero emissions ASAP before 2050. The first step: create a Climate Action Plan. (Stay tuned for ours.)

We as a community, industry, and individuals must adopt this type of long-range planning to achieve individual and collective success, not only for environmental goals but for business, advocacy, and everything in between.

Last month, Dave and I celebrated Earth Day in London while there for the Short Stay Summit, Shortyz Awards, and the Global Association Summit Luncheon. It was an incredible opportunity to see the fruits of many seasons of advocacy around the world, like the effort by Scotland and UK self-catering associations to stop the abolition of the Furnished Holiday Let tax regime, or the years-long work of Eduardo Miranda and the Portugal association to propose a win-win national regulatory scheme. The Short Stay Summit itself was an incredible success by the UK Short Term Accommodation Association, building upon every summit since its inaugural event in 2021.

Big opportunities and wins like these are the shade of trees planted years ago. So, whether you’re thinking about regulations, portfolios, or retirement, five years from now, what tree will you wish you had planted today? Consider this your seed of encouragement.

Alexa Nota,
COO and Co-Founder of Rent Responsibly

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