Sustainability & international volunteering

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.

Many volunteers travel medium or long distances to reach their workcamp. We recommend that all participants think about offsetting the CO2 emissions of their trip and choose the most environmentally friendly means of transport. Here you can calculate the CO2 emissions of your trip to the workcamp with different means of transport.

Traveling more sustainably doesn't just mean choosing environmentally friendly means of transport. It also means paying attention to social justice, respecting foreign cultures and keeping the negative impact of your trip on the environment as small as possible. Here are a few tips to make your trip as sustainable as possible.

In an international group in particular, it is often exciting to discuss the topic of sustainability and to get to know different approaches to solving the climate crisis from various regions of the world. We motivate all group leaders of our work camps to choose a motto for their camp. This means, for example, trying to do without plastic, reducing waste, buying fair coffee, etc. Read more about how to choose your camp's motto.

Meine Herzensangelegenheit ist es, die Natur als wichtigen Baustein zu betrachten: Ihre Einzigartigkeit lässt Menschen staunen, hat eine Schlüsselrolle bei Wohlfühlfaktoren der Menschen, dient als Grundlage vieler Ressourcen und ist endlich. Vor allem letzteres kann durch internationale Projekte wie bei IBG vermittelt werden und sensibilisiert Menschen, was angesichts der Klimakrise eine wichtige Grundlage für Diskussionen und lösungsorientierte, konstruktive Ansätze ist.

Amrei, Group Leader for IBG

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...

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...

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....