What we do as an organisation
Our work aims to support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which address the economic, social and environmental challenges of our planet. We strive to implement sustainability in our daily work:
Organisational work
IBG is part of the self-declaration of Bergwaldprojekt on climate-friendly behavior! What does that mean? We want to do something about climate change and commit ourselves to the following three points in our daily work:
- We renounce domestic flights and flights for travel up to 1,000 km.
- We minimize our energy consumption in the office and use power from 100% green electricity.
- We renounce meat from conventional, industrial production and use, as far as possible, only biological, seasonal and regional or fair food in our trainings and events.
Trainings & Travel reimbursements
Meals at our trainings and seminars are usually vegan. Why? Here you can find 8 reasons why we aim to eat less meat.
We do not reimburse travel costs for domestic flights and travel costs for cars only up to an amount of 150 Euros. For train bookings, we can reimburse you also for the costs of a CO2 offset.
How you can get involved
You think the topic is important and want to get involved further? We are looking forward to your participation! You can support us in various ways:
Become an Eco-Messenger!
As an Eco-Messenger, you visit a work camp and give a small input on a topic of sustainability; for example, water, consumption, mobility, upcycling, etc. We will refund your travel costs and help you with the planning and implementation of your workshop!
Join our working group!
The IBG Nachhaltigkeits AG (Working Group Sustainability) was created in 2017 and deals with the question of how the organisation can continue to become more sustainable. You want to join us? Just contact Jannika!
More Info
Want to read more about sustainability? Here you will find some articles about how we practise sustainability in our workcamps, while travelling and with our daily office work.
Earth Day 2022: How environmental protection and our clothes are connected
The international Earth Day takes place on April 22nd.
Earth Day has been celebrated at the end of April for 51 years. Protecting the environment is important every day of the year. But April 22 is used as a day of action to specifically point out a more environmentally conscious and sustainable way of life. This year's Invest in Our Planet campaigns will explore how regulation,...
Why are bogs important for climate protection?
Environmental protection in peatlands and bogs
The landscape of the Hunsrück-Hochwald National Park is characterized by huge forests, steep hills, small streams and ponds, rocks and swamps. A perfect home for many rare animal and plant species, but also a great area for hiking. The national park was founded in 2015 and is home not only to wolves, moufflons and the rare wildcats, but...
World Water Day: What does water mean to you?
How our drinking water is related to the climate crisis
About two thirds of our planet is covered with water. However, only a fraction of it is fresh water and even less of it is so clean that it can be safely used as drinking water. Even if in Germany we mostly only notice in summer that there is too little water for agriculture, parks and gardens in many places - from a global...
Reducing waste - what can I do?
Have you ever paid attention to what we throw away every day? On average, every person in Germany alone produces over 220kg of packaging waste per year. The resources for the production of plastic, paper, etc. are very limited. It uses large quantities of water and oil for the production of plastics. Often plastic waste also ends up in the environment, where it takes several decades to...
Earth Day 2021: How environmental protection and our food are connected
International Earth Day is celebrated on April 22nd under the motto "Restore our Earth".
Earth Day has been taking place at the end of April for 51 years. Environmental protection is important every day of the year. But April 22nd is used as a day of action to specifically point out a more environmentally conscious and sustainable way of life. This year, the actions under the motto...
#HugATreeDay: Why forests are important for all of us
Rainforest, coniferous or mixed forests - around 30% of the land area on our earth is covered by forests. But this area is getting smaller and smaller.
Every year we lose 10 million hectares of forest worldwide - an area about the size of Iceland. Forests are crucial for our health and for climate protection. Forests provide us with a variety of raw materials that we use in paper, wood...
How to travel more sustainably
Within our network, the Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organizations, more than 20,000 volunteers travel to international work camps around the world every year. This exchange often has many positive effects on the volunteers, and also on the local communities and organisations which are involved in organising the projects.At the same time, participating in an international work...
How to clean more eco-friendly
In Germany, we buy around 220,000 tons of household cleaning products and 260,000 tons of dishwashing detergent every year. But have you ever taken a closer look at what is actually in the detergents and cleaning products you have at home? Especially many of those 'strong' cleaning agents contain substances that can be harmful to our health and can pollute our wastewater with chemicals....