"In Minnesota, we nurture cabin dreams," writes Edina Magazine. "The land of 10,000 lakes has been churning out cherished memories for generations, and, naturally, many of us want to continue the tradition. According to the National Association of Realtors, 22 percent of the nation's vacation homes are cabins or cottages; these little dwellings surrounded by nature continue to be popular, providing equal doses of nostalgia and escape from our busy, grown-up lives full of stuff."

Having a second home, of course, is inherently not sustainable in the environmental sense. Not only does a second home require financial and economic resources to maintain, but the travel required to reach a second home (whether by plane, train, boat, or automobile) results in greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, noise, land use, and water pollution. At the same time, however, many small communities rely on the financial resources second home buyers bring to help sustain their livelihoods.

As Dr. Ziene Mottiar, Faculty of Tourism and Food, Dublin Institute of Technology, notes, "there are two seemingly paradoxical aspects to sustainable development, namely conservation and development… Thus it is a matter of preserving, for instance, the wealth of species in a natural area, and at the same time, striving for development in a society to attain the goals of greater welfare for the people. This necessitates the management of 'the process of change in such a manner that it occurs in as benign a way as possible rather than by accident."

In addition, one aspect of sustainability is resource utilization. A home sitting empty is simply wasting resources, whereas one used for people is serving a purpose. Rise wrote about how Airbnb can increase the sustainability of your home because it allows homeowners to rent out their homes or extra rooms that are not being used, thereby providing shelter for more people.

A Look at My Family's Second Home

Acquiring a second home can happen in ways other than purchasing a cabin "Up North." Along with family tradition, matters of the heart and practicality can all play a role in owning and maintaining a second home. For me, all three have come into play.

In the 1960s, my Grandmother moved to Sedona, Arizona, and my family has been going there ever since. When Gram passed, my Dad, Uncle, brother, and I bought Gram's home—a decidedly not fancy but cozy builder house in which we host family reunions, regularly vacation, and rent out on occasion.

The architects created a flexible floor plan that accommodates small and larger family groups, so only the spaces that are being utilized have to be heated or cooled. The low-maintenance exterior includes Resysta siding—a composite siding material made out of rice husks, salt, and mineral oil but made to look like wood.

Don’t forget about the site that your second home occupies. Opting for sustainable landscaping and hardscaping, incorporating a green roof, incorporating native plants to feed and shelter the area’s pollinators, reducing water use outdoors, and planting according to—and restoring—the site’s original biome or ecosystem are ways to reduce the environmental impact of owning a second home.

So back to the question: can a second home be sustainable? It’s akin to the question as to whether a home over 6,000 square feet can be sustainable. The answer can be debatable, as “sustainable” is a relative term. While some might argue that second homes or very large homes are a waste of resources, there are many ways to make them much more sustainable than conventionally built homes. After all, buildings serve an essential purpose. If we can start thinking about homes as being restorative—for example, producing more energy than they consume, or absorbing more stormwater runoff than they create, like the Hanson’s home in Minnesota—then the answer is a resounding yes!