Similar to conventional hostels, Eco-hostels typically give guests the option to stay in a shared or private room with shared bathrooms and a communal lounge and kitchen accommodations.

Unlike many conventional hostels, Eco-hostels may incorporate different aspects into their governance such as environmental or social justice, Permaculture design techniques, green building techniques, in-house gardens, energy conservation measures, and other design elements which lend to the sustainability of the facility and reduce the hostel-goers Carbon Footprint.

Examples of such measures include, but certainly are not limited to:

• Living roofs for water purification
• Solar panels for harvesting energy
• Improved insulation to reduce energy costs
• Passive solar design to heat the premises naturally using the sun
• Gardens to provide food
• Abundant greenery for air filtration (and aesthetics, of course)
• Rainwater catchment systems to water the gardens
• And much, much, more.

Sometimes, hostels use the term “Eco-Hostel” as a marketing strategy to impart a “Green Image” onto an otherwise normal hostel (but hey, don’t get us wrong! Hostels are great almost no matter how you spin them). This website aims to allow hostel-goers the ability to seek out to what degree their hostel is considered an Eco-Hostel and if it is right for them!