Uh oh...a bad review is on its way (advice?)

I think it’s churlish to call people with different viewpoints from yours spoiled. As another poster noted the people who are saying that not flushing after peeing is gross are the ones who’ve experienced it. Also, standing water with urine in it is a mosquito magnet.

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Dont cancel! Just send them a friendly note before they show up to manage expectations.

“Dear guest, we are experiencing drought conditions in our area. Please be sensitive to our habitat and only use the shower for x minutes and don’t flush the toilet unless truly necessary. I appreciate your cooperation and please let me know if you have any questions”

If someone really hates this idea, then they don’t want to come to your space anyway. But I will tell you my mother would be just thrilled!

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I agree with Artemis. You don’t need to cancel. Just spell out very clearly your water use limitations. The people who don’t like not flushing and/or limiting shower use won’t book.

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There’s a worldwide water crisis and hundreds of millions of people in the world go without clean drinking water, much less water to flush a little pee. That’s not a viewpoint, it’s a fact. As for attracting mosquitos…by that logic we should do away with flushing toilets altogether. We, all of us with flushing toilets, are spoiled. So I’m both spoiled and churlish! Yay.

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The people who live in areas of the world without flush toilets don’t live as long.

If people really want to save water and mitigate global warming they should stop eating beef.

Completely unrelated to the fact that we don’t need to flush a 1.6 gal or more toilet just because it has a few oz of pee in it.

And driving cars and going on vacation and having children and consuming too much of everything.

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Actually, a shorter life span is very much related to living with human waste.

Beef production is the biggest driver of climate change. Also, I quit airline travel once I found out how bad it is for my carbon footprint. I didn’t have children because of human overpopulation. I live in a 975 square foot house with no air conditioning. I buy virtually all my produce from farmers’ markets. I cook pretty much everything we eat (including staples like bread, yogurt and granola bars) which saves on transportation and packaging. I don’t eat meat or poultry. I work from home. You have every right to disagree with me; but you’re on shaky ground when you infer that I’m a hypocrite about environmental issues.

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Have you considered a composting toilet? No water usage and free compost for your garden :stuck_out_tongue:

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If things get much worse we’ll all be using the outhouse…which btw is super cute. Another rustic charm I can market haha.

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Exactly! Turn the negative into a positive. If it’s really cute, add a picture to your listing with a caption that makes it sound exotic.

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True that. Remember when politicians and Supreme Court nominees were trying to illustrate how they were common folk by telling reporters about their indoor plumbing free childhoods?

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Where I live, thousands of wells have gone dry and last year we were on mandatory water restrictions. Last year I had 5 gal buckets in each shower to collect water and a short note about it. Hardly anyone complied. I personally use the yellow let it mellow but I know my guests won’t. And about 98% of my guests are from my state!

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You have a chip on your shoulder the size of Africa! I did not infer that you are a hypocrite. I saidWE were spoiled (not selfish, not hypocritical, not stupid, not arrogant, not whatever.) And then a post or so later I said WE ARE ALL SPOILED again. I knew I could count on you to take offense and you did not disappoint.

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@SuiteRetreat I know it is easy to say, but no sense worrying about something that hasn’t happened. If they leave a review than you cross that bridge when you get there.

@EllenN You are what some of us call ‘a true granola’. I got some very good friend’s that are, because I do respect their convictions, which they DO follow. Fortunately, we all have a sense of humor, and really during our bantering no doubt we are learning from each other. :v:

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Mearns,

I have no problem being called “a true granola”. I will consider it a badge of honor.

As long as it is the Windmill House granola. :wink:

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Some words about water conservation since I have this issue too. I’m in rural Hawaii where many homeowners are on rain catchment. Until I was able to borrow the money to replace my leaky tank, i and to severely limit guest water use. When we are really really REALLY low on water those last flushes will make us dry.

To make guests aware, I put it in my notes. I don’t specifically mention the mellow yellow but I think most guests get the idea and although some guests will flush every time, others won’t, so it balances out. Now I have low flow toilets and a new tank so it’s not as crucial anymore. I’m really more concerned with long showers. They just can’t in our circumstances, it’s in my house rules and most guests get it when I mention water conservation.

As for being grossed out and leaving mellow yellow Ellen, it doesn’t sound to me like you’d be willing to be understanding of people with finite water systems such as wells or tanks, a necessity in much of the world. No need, really, because you pay the LA municipal water company and water comes out of the faucet, so easy. Forget that it’s all really coming from the Colorado River. Doesn’t sound very granola to me.

PS Mosquitoes that carry disease such as dengue and Zike (Aedus aegypti) prefer to breed in small, clean human created habitat, such as flower pots or gutters, not standing urine in a toilet. It also takes seven days before larvae hatch and begin wriggling. I hardly see it will be a a possibility that a toilet would be sitting seven days with urine.

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Clearly you are looking for excuses to put me down. I am not the only poster who said that they are disgusted by not flushing the toilet for urine, but I’m the only one who got piled on. As for me not empathizing with hosts with water delivery issues; I advised the original poster that he/she didn’t need to delist until more water was available. I advised that it’s fine as long as guests are made aware.

Another place with water conservation issues here. This area (and much of India) suffers from chronic drought, and even when there is not drought, there is the relentless pressure of overpopulation. I don’t say anything about water conservation in my listing or my guest guide, but I’m wondering if I should.

For those of you who have these issues, and mention it, do you mention in in your listing (i.e. publicly) or in the materials to your guests (i.e. privately), or both?

I mention it in my guest guide which is in the room. I have a very nice shower and it doesn’t have a “low flow” shower head. There is a valve to adjust water pressure (in addition to the on/off temperature valve) and there are five settings on the shower head including one to turn off the flow altogether. But in my guide I say “The showerhead has multiple settings for your comfort but this is a desert with water restrictions in effect. Please conserve water if possible.” Then hope for the best.

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