The Hostelling International Sustainability Fund 2016 project winners
In April 2012, the HI association set up a Hostelling International Sustainability Fund with the acronym HISF, which allows travellers to donate a small sum of money and thus help reduce CO₂ emissions while booking trough the HI platform. Every year HISF also organizes the annual competition, which invites hostels from all around the world to apply with their sustainability projects.
Within the last call for applications, also a Slovenian Hostel Tresor from Ljubljana competed for the funds with their
ECO TRESORT project. They were unfortunately not among the winning projects. The winner was a project designed by
Bettmar Ecohostel from Spain, that received a 10,000 pounds grant, which will be used for installation of translucent solar panels to induce an effect on energy consumption and deliver a reduced footprint.
The second place was won by the
hostel HI Point Montara Lighthouse project. This US hostel will use the acquired funds to reduce the consumption of water. Their goal is to reuse the 100 % of the water from washing laundry to water landscapes and gardens around the hostel and with that fight the effects of Climate Change.
Third was the
HI-Rampart Creek in Canada, which will spend their funds on a hybrid refrigerators, designed to use the outside air for cooling when the temperature drops below 4 degrees Celsius.
The Netherlands chain of
hostels Stayokay came in fourth. Their funds will be spent on a 3-year project, that will also involve guests by selling reusable bottles, providing drinking taps and collecting PET bottles and plastic in the hostels.
Not much needed so the changes can be made. Starting with yourself, good sustainable practices can become part of who you are as traveller and help to reduce your imprint on the environment. Even the choice of the hostel, which follows the same beliefs may be the very first step towards a conscious, sustainable travelling. So let's start today for a better tomorrow and support the wining hostels and other like-minded sustainability projects.
