If you’ve ever tossed out half a bag of groceries or a pile of takeout before checking out of a vacation rental, you’re not alone. A new study finds that short-term rental travelers in the U.S. waste an estimated $2 billion worth of food every year.
Researchers at Ohio State University surveyed 502 adults about their most recent stay at an Airbnb, VRBO or similar rental. Using national data and statistical modeling, the team projected that Americans leave behind or throw out an average of $12 in food per night of lodging, mostly groceries and leftovers that go uneaten. That adds up to about 5% of the nightly rental fee.
“The 5% figure is probably similar to tax rates on lodging in particular localities,” said lead author Brian Roe, professor of agricultural, environmental and development economics at Ohio State. “So people are basically paying an additional lodging tax through the money they spend on food that they never eat while they’re in the Airbnb.”
In most cases, leftover food was tossed, taken home or simply left behind. Nearly half of respondents said they waste more food while traveling than they do at home.
Among other findings:
The average cost of lodging was $231 per night.
Each child on the trip was linked to greater food waste.
80% of travel groups ate at least one meal per day in their rental.
Produce and pantry staples were the most commonly wasted groceries.
While the study didn’t track what happened to every uneaten item, the most common outcome was disposal. But many travelers expressed interest in better options. Nearly 75% said they’d find it helpful if rental hosts provided information on how to donate or compost leftover food.
“There’s some interest among travelers to try to reduce their footprints, and this would be a way to do that,” Roe said.
Just 46% of hosts offered recycling options, and only 1 in 5 gave guidance on what to do with leftover food. Roe believes that could change.
“One can imagine this as a simple addition to a host’s information booklet — probably a very doable implementation,” he said. “And if that knocked that $2 billion number down to $1.5 billion, that’s half a billion dollars less each year of wasted food.”
The study was published in the journal Waste Management and co-authored by Ohio State students Sarah Ganbat and Mallika Malhotra.
No funding sources were disclosed in the published article or press release.