Our Environmental Policy

We try to contaminate the planet as little as possible, without causing too much discomfort to the guests. Therefore:

• We recycle everything we can. We take soft and hard plastics directly to the garden hose factory. We take bottles and cans to the recycler who pays us for them (so we know they definitely get recycled!). Beer bottles go back to the shop. We compost waste paper.
• We reuse whatever we can. eg. Using old T-shirts as dishcloths or handtowels (but still washing them regularly. Hygiene is a big priority) or reusing old materials in the construction of some of the facilities. Sometimes this might not look perfect, but it's better than throwing away perfectly functional materials.
  
• We sometimes serve drinks in re-used (but clean!) jars.
  
• We do not sell snacks that come in unrecyclable materials.
• All food waste from the hostel either feeds the goats or goes to the compost.
  
• We encourage our guests to use the dry toilets if they possibly can. Regular toilets in Colombia inevitably contaminate rivers or soils.
• We encourage the guests to use the solar showers if at all possible (anyway they're much nicer!)
• We don't use pesticides on our garden.

What we ask of the guests

There is one basic rule. Be conscious!  -of the effect you have on the environment in general and specifically on our hostel. This means:

• Think about what products you buy and bring to our hostel. Can they and their packaging be recycled? If not , please try not to bring them. Obviously some unrecyclable products are essential, like nappies and sanitary towels.
  

We can recycle: (and so please deposit CLEAN! * in the correct bins).
Bottles and cans
paper and card
hard plastics (plastic bottles and yogurt pots) 
soft plastic (plastic bags, soft plastic packaging like milk and yogurt bags).
***Please clean any food tins or plastic containers before recycling them.

We cannot recycle: (so put them in the general rubbish, the sanitary toilet bin or if possible don't bring them at all)
Polystyrene,
Foil or packaging containing foil eg. Doritos, Todo Rico, juice cartons, tetrapacks, 
Crinkly plastic packaging (usually processed foods like chips, cookies, chocolate (I know!) ,
Nappies, tampons, sanitary products, wetwipes*.

• Deposit food waste in the organics bin * except SKINS ONLY of bananas, papayas, mangoes, zuchini, cucumbers, apples, carrots and pears, which go in the goat food bin.
  
• Don't litter any part of the farm or surroundings
  
• There are no bins in the rooms. Please take all your rubbish to put it in the correct kitchen or toilet bins.
• Use the dry toilets if possible (if you really find it too gross, use the other one, no worries!). After pooing put paper in the bin and cover the poo with a cup of ash. At the front there is a urine collector that we don't want to block with paper or ash. Boys don't pee directly into the toilet bowl, there is a urinal in the second cubicle. Also all the land around the hostel is at your disposal!
• Please deposit sanitary products eg. nappies, tampons, condoms, WET WIPES*, in the correct toilet bin. This is because we compost the normal toilet paper but not the sanitary products. (It's not fun doing the gardening and coming across a used condom!)

** Wet wipes are NOT biodegradable like normal paper and so must go in the sanitary bin. We are constantly finding wetwipes in the compost!

Thank you for helping us fight the good fight against environmental pollution!