MY CARBON FOOTPRINT: 10 TREES FOR EVERY PARTICIPANT!

Travelling against ignorance and prejudice

World Unite!'s programs are not purely pleasure trips, although fun is, of course, a part of them. They have higher goals that are important, if not fundamental, for the future of humanity. These goals include encountering people of other cultures and those living in different circumstances in their everyday lives on equal terms. This interaction allows participants to develop the ability to at least partially understand their ways of thinking, values, norms, interests, dreams, concerns, and plans. No World Unite! program takes place in an isolated environment where you only spend time with your peers; daily interaction with people from your host country is an integral part of all our programs, whether it's a volunteer placement, internship, Working Holiday, or any other program we arrange.

Ideally, even if this sometimes takes time, this may lead to understanding, openness, and a sense of moral equality when dealing with people from other cultures. These qualities are fundamental for securing peaceful coexistence among the people of our Earth.

Without these experiences, ignorance, prejudice, exclusion, hatred, and lack of understanding can arise, leading to conflicts and destruction, including environmental damage.

The philosopher Hegel realized that the true tragedies of the world are not conflicts between right and wrong, but between two "right" positions. Representatives of opposing points of view, each of which might be totally comprehensible on its own, insist on being right and do not come to a peaceful solution because they cannot understand the other's way of thinking.

It is difficult to overcome this limited view of the world in any other way than by traveling and immersing oneself deeply in the society of the host country. These are the types of trips we at World Unite! arrange for our participants.

World Unite! helps you maximize the learning effect of your time abroad: Intercultural training and overcoming patterns of post-colonial thinking are part of the preparation for every stay with World Unite!.

That sounds great, but what about my carbon footprint?

Your long-haul flight in economy class emits CO2 into the atmosphere, roughly in the following quantities (according to myclimate.org):

• Frankfurt to Tangier (Morocco) and back: 0.8 t

• Madrid to Kilimanjaro and back: 2.4 t

• Melbourne to Mumbai and back: 3.5 t

• Oslo to Myanmar and back: 3.1 t

• London to Nicaragua and back: 3.3 t

• Paris to Cape Town and back: 3.6 t

• Copenhagen to Tokyo and back: 3.3 t

• Seattle to Tokyo and back: 2.9 t

• Calgary to La Paz and back: 3.3 t

10 indigenous trees per worldwide World Unite! participant

But did you know that World Unite! plants 10 trees on deforested land on the slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro for each participant of our worldwide programs?

These 10 trees absorb about 30 tonnes of CO2 during their life expectancy of around 150 years and convert it into oxygen. Trees are most productive between their 10th and 40th year.

You will generate 0.8 to 3.6 tonnes of CO2 through your journey, but your trees will absorb 30 tonnes of CO2! The 30 tonnes are a rather conservative estimate. Due to the size of the indigenous trees, rapid growth in the tropical climate, the high humidity on the Kilimanjaro area, and other factors, the total amount of CO2 absorbed is likely to be higher.

Bamboo for climate action now!

We understand that climate action is needed now, so relying solely on the future CO2 absorption of the trees we plant today is not sufficient. Therefore, in addition to our tree-planting program, we also plant bamboo.or this reason, in addition to our tree-planting program, we also plant bamboo. For this, we have acquired plots of land in Moshi/Kilimanjaro and in Kisauni/Zanzibar, where we plant bamboo. Bamboo occurs naturally on both Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar. Bamboo is one of the fastest-growing plants. A complete bamboo forest grows within 3 years. Bamboo is very effective at absorbing CO2. One hectare of bamboo forest can absorb around 17 tons of CO2 per year. In order to avoid monoculture and ensure biodiversity, a permaculture specialist is involved in the project.

In workshops, we teach the diverse uses of bamboo as a sustainable material that can replace plastic or wood in many areas of application. In Zanzibar and Tanzania, wood is mostly not sourced sustainably (cutting wood contributes to deforestation of mangroves and rainforest).

What else do we do for the climate?

• We run some programs and cooperate with several partners about the active protection of existing forests. You can also volunteer or do an internships with these programs. An overview of the projects can be found under “Internships & Volunteering”> “Ecology, Environmental Conservation, Animals”.

• We try to save energy and to reduce/avoid fossil fuels, for example by using solar energy, energy efficient lighting (LEDs), energy efficient cooking facilities and energy efficient heating/cooling facilities in the accommodations of our participants. Our Mother Nature Forest Camps in Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro are maximally optimized and up-to-date in terms of environmental technology.

• We try to reduce the number of flights and other trips of our own team members to an absolutely necessary minimum. Of course, we always fly in economy class. We also plant 10 trees for each flight of our team members.

• We try to purchase or make supplies locally, which are needed to carry out our programs as much as possible, rather than having them transported over long distances.

• When we provide food, it uses almost entirely locally produced ingredients. Due to the expectations of our participants, we do not completely abstain from meat, but we reduce the amount of meat. Vegetarian food is always available.