The International World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms Association (WWOOF) provides the venue for people around the world to learn first-hand about organic growing methods; enables both the organic farmers and volunteers to make organic farming a viable alternative; and, improves communications concerning the importance of organic farming in the world today.

Since its inception in 1971 London, WWOOF has grown to include participation of some 43 different countries including Australia, China, America and Finland.

Hosts listed through WWOOF are primarily pursuing a simple, sustainable lifestyle. Many are practicing Permaculture or Bio-dynamic growing methods. The farms vary from commercial to alternative co-operatives, or communities.

The Independents listed may include non-organic, yet are in keeping with the general ethic of respect for the environment; exchange of knowledge & expertise, food & accomodation in exchange for help on a voluntary basis.

All necessary information is available at the WWOOF Website: http://www.wwoof.org/

The Blue Mountains make for a great, cool-weather, eco-getaway from Sydney. When staying at a site with cool, damp weather like that of the Blue Mountains, it pays to opt for a place that is just as cozy as it is comfortable. The Jemby-Rinjah Eco-Lodge fits the bill in this regard because how else could one accurately describe beautiful wood cabins and a small lodge heated by wood-burning stoves? The cozy factor also goes up because the eco-lodge is closely surrounded by the forests of the Blue Mountains.

This eco-lodge was built with the goal of being a sustainable, eco-friendly place and has won awards for its efforts. Even before the walls of the buildings went up, the site chosen for the lodge was in a more degraded area of forest that had been logged. This was done to make less of an impact upon the environment when construction took place, as well as to have a site that could be allowed to naturally regenerate.

The lodge was also designed to have walkways that connected some of the buildings to leave as little of a footprint upon the land as possible, and buildings are insulated and placed to receive as much warmth from the sun as possible. Because they are also careful about water use, toilets are of the composting variety.

Activities at the eco-lodge are environmentally based and include night hikes in search of native opossum species and owls, bird watching, and hikes in the nearby national forest.

Adventure activities such as rappelling down a nearby canyon, rock climbing and caving can also be done at nearby sites.

Folks who get tired of walking or who don’t need an adrenaline rush can still get a taste of local bird life by feeding brilliantly colored red and blue wild parakeets that land on the shoulders and hands of people who present the birds with a handful of birdseed.