For Earth Day 2018, show your support for some beverage producers who support the environment.
The Reyka Vodka distillery, outside of Reykjavik, Iceland, is one of the most eco-friendly facilities in the world. They collect Arctic spring water from a source that runs through a 4,000-year-old lava field. The abundant lava rocks naturally filter the water, making it some of the purest in the world. This gives their vodka an extremely clean and unique taste profile.
Reyka also powers its distillery with geothermal energy from the native volcanoes.
Left Hand Brewing in Longmont has made significant investments in energy conservation efforts toward both electricity and natural gas. They installed a more efficient brew kettle that uses less than half the gas consumption of their previous kettle, allowing them to reduce their steam, hops, and boil time. Using a flash steam recovery system to recapture steam from the brewing process, they are able to use it to heat water for cleaning and brewing, saving any lost energy. Left Hand also switched to solar paneling and using compact florescent bulbs for lighting. They have consistently been able to not only stay below the U.S. average for brewery water usage, but also reduce their water-to-beer ratio each year.
Francis Ford Coppola Winery, which produces several award-winning and consistently dependable vintages, utilizes sustainable farming as part of the California Sustainable Winegrowing Program. They make efforts to purchase fruit from growers who farm sustainably, and some of their source vineyards are certified organic as well.
Coppola also recycles their grape and water waste by fertilizing with composted grape pomace and irrigating only with reclaimed winery wastewater.
As one of the greenest distilleries in the spirits industry, Don Q Rum has created innovative wastewater management practices to promote a healthy ocean ecosystem in Puerto Rico. Through their groundbreaking wastewater to energy process, the Don Q system guarantees that not a single drop of wastewater ends up in the ocean and their system generates electricity, irrigation grade water, and industrial by-products for other businesses in their community. The sustainable approach taken when distilling their rum leads to both a superior product and a healthy ecosystem.
Products with sustainable business practices like Reyka vodka, Left Hand beers, Coppola wines, and Don Q rum, as well as many others that feature organic ingredients, can be found this Earth Day at large local liquor stores that offer a substantial choice in selection and variety, like Wyatt’s Wet Goods.
