What we do in our international network
As a member of the Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organizations, IBG has been active in the network's Environmental Sustainability Working Group (ESWG) since its start in 2012. The aim of the working group is to promote the issue of sustainability both within the network and among its affiliates, as well as to communicate it to others, and to inform and involve local project partners and volunteers. In 2017, the Alliance adopted a revised version of its Policy Paper on Sustainability, which illustrates the motivation, the understanding of sustainability and the main focuses of the network.
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.
- If you book your trip to a seminar or work camp with Flixbus, you can contact us before booking - we can provide many volunteers with discount vouchers for bus travel!
Work camps
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.
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...
#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...
Join the Global Common Action Day for Climate Justice
August 22nd, 2020 is "Earth Overshoot Day", the day of the year on which humanity as a whole has used up all of the sustainable resources of 2020.
"Earth Overshoot Day" means that everything that we consume in ecological resources after this day is above what our earth can regenerate this year. This day should, of course, be at the end of every year or later, to keep our planet...
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...
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...
Moore wieder vernässen - aber warum?
Umweltschutzarbeiten im Nationalpark Hunsrück-Hochwald
Die Landschaft hier ist geprägt von riesigen Wäldern, steilen Hügeln, kleinen Bächen und Teichen, Felsen und Sümpfen. Nur kleine Weiler unterbrechen die Natur, eine perfekte Heimat für viele seltene Tier- und Pflanzenarten, aber auch eine tolle Gegend zum Wandern. Der Nationalpark Hunsrück-Hochwald wurde 2015 gegründet und...
8 Reasons for Eating Less Meat
If you've been to one of our trainings or seminars, you may have noticed that food at IBG events is mostly vegan. You wonder why? Here are 8 reasons why we want to consume less meat:
1. Deforestation of the rainforest
Our diet has a greater impact on the global climate than you might think. In South America alone, 40 percent of the rainforest was cleared for pasture land and growing...
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....