We use NutriBiotic and Nature's Gate products as they fit our "green" philosophy and both come in scentless options which more and more guests are appreciating it seems.
Our first purchase was standard size bottles in order to test them on both ourselves and guests. We wanted to gauge how receptive guests were to having refillable, bigger bottles of stuff in the showers and on the vanity counters.
Once satisfied, we then bought one set of standard size bottles of each for our 4 rooms and now buy the 1 gallon size refills. If a bottle gets dropped and damaged, we replace it.
This is real important. Between guests when cleaning the bathroom, a seperate rag with anti-bacterial cleaner is used to wipe the bottles and even after a few years, they look like brand new. I unscrew the caps when refilling and soak them to get rid of any built up gunk and they too look like brand new.
There is a reason plastic is so pernicious in our landfills, the stuff is tough and lasts a really long time.
I'm sure a few germaphobes won't touch or use our stuff, but they are the types to bring their own anyway. In fact, our experience is that most people bring their own, so instead of them leaving with a few tiny bottles of stuff with our name on it as a memento of their stay that will end up in a landfill somewhere else, we put more of our resources into the quality of our food ingredients, our day trip planning resources, and keeping the house in tip top physical shape.
The stuff we offer isn't cheap and it isn't personalized for us, but we're more interested in the quality, earth friendliness, animal testing aspect and cutting down on waste both in packaging and product itself.
We may be missing out on some secondary income streams, but we are totally committed to offering our guests a very non-commercialized experience and a respite from the overbranded, overtly consumptive life they experience in their day to day world.
We downplay nearly every commercial or financial matter between us and our guests. Their deposit and tariff payment is handled very subtly and discreetly without pressure or any mercenary impulses coming from us in the slightest. Our primary target guest type appreciates this approach more than words can describe.
There are no mugs, t-shirts, coffee, tea, cookbooks, etc. for sale here. Even though we display the artwork of friends, neighbors and myself in our B&B, there isn't a price tag on anything nor is there any effort to push anything on anybody. We've had many guests take the brochure for the coffee we serve and start buying it themselves, but it isn't overtly pushed.
We've had guests really love the art of a neighbor or myself and go visit their studio and commission a piece for themselves, but thats about it. We won't even accept a kickback from the mostly struggling artists we associate with in return for the commission referral.
We also have refillable decanters for hand soap.
Sorry for going on and on, I must be mentally prepping for the incoming guest tonight who writes for an eco-tourism magazine and is doing a piece on our place.
