Sustainability & Community
A hostel that takes care of the place - and the people - that host it.
Petra is a wonder. Wadi Musa is our home. We clean up after ourselves and after others, and we share our rooftop with the women and small businesses that make this town what it is.
Sustainability
What we do for Petra, every day.
Petra clean-up walks
Every now and then we take guests out around Petra to pick up plastic and litter left behind. It's free, it's a great way to see less-walked corners, and it leaves the place a little cleaner than we found it.
Sorted recycling
We sell nothing in single-use plastic at the hostel, and we sort plastic, glass, paper and aluminium in-house so it actually gets recycled - not dumped in the desert.
Refill, don't buy
Free filtered water refill stations on every floor. Bring your bottle or grab a reusable one at reception. We're chasing zero single-use plastic.
Plastic-free toiletries
Refillable shampoo, conditioner and soap dispensers in every bathroom. No tiny plastic bottles thrown out after one use.
Shared, not solo
Our shared-ride engine pools travellers heading the same way. Fewer empty taxis on the Desert Highway, fewer emissions.
Local kitchen
Our restaurant cooks Jordanian food with produce from Wadi Musa farmers and bakers - short supply chain, real flavour.
Saving water
Low-flow showers and taps. We're in the desert - every drop matters, and we tell guests how to help.
In the field
Clean-ups around Petra, in pictures.
Community
Neighbors corner
Tourism in Petra should lift the people who actually live here. We partner with local women's cooperatives and small family businesses, give them space at the hostel to show and sell their products, and take zero cut for ourselves.
5+ women's cooperatives
We work hand-in-hand with more than five local women's organisations around Wadi Musa, hosting between 5 and 10 women at a time to share their craft, food and stories with our guests.
5-10 local small businesses
We invite small Wadi Musa makers and family-run businesses to show their products at the hostel - jewellery, ceramics, herbal soaps, embroidery, sweets. Guests buy directly from them.
Zero profit for the hostel
Every dinar from these sales goes to the women and the businesses themselves. Rafiki keeps nothing - we just provide the space, the audience and the introductions.
In collaboration with
How you can help
Travel a little lighter while you're with us.
- Refill your bottle at our stations instead of buying a new one in the medina.
- Drop your sorted waste in the marked bins by the kitchen.
- Take a shared ride instead of a private taxi when timings work.
- Reuse your towel - leave it on the rack if you don't need a fresh one.
- Eat with us: dinner buffet means less food waste than à-la-carte.
- Tell us what we could do better - we listen.