Earth Day

By Andrew DuncanApr 22, 2022

Happy Earth Day!

Today we celebrate Earth Day, an annual event to demonstrate support for environmental protection. While protecting our environment is something we focus on everyday at Arbikie, today is a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness and encourage others to join in the sustainable movement. What can we do to help take care of our planet in the drinks business? Well, lots actually as we interact with so many people around the world whether in growing, distilling, supply chain, distributors, or as consumers. Thankfully, the Sustainable Spirits Movement is gathering momentum as consumers increasingly focus on the environmental impact of their spirits.

At Arbikie, we are an active member of the Sustainable Spirits Movement and take our climate responsibilities as both farmers and distillers very seriously. Our aim is to be one of the world's most sustainable distilleries and with our field-to-bottle ethos of growing, distilling, maturing & bottling our spirits on the Arbikie Estate, we are very much on that journey.

Kirsty Black, Arbikie Master Distiller:

"At Arbikie we’re continuously looking for ways to innovate and reinforce our sustainability focus. For each decision we make, we try and consider the environmental impact and how we can do things better."

Make sure to check out our brand new short film ‘Going against the Grain’, which captures the essence of what we do at Arbikie and the creation of our Nàdar spirits:

Excellence in Sustainability Award

A great win for Arbikie was when we were recognised for our sustainable, field to bottle approach, winning the 'Excellence in Sustainability' Award in late 2020 at the Scottish Whisky Awards. This was a fantastic achievement for us as we were up against tough competition.

World's First Climate Positive Spirits

We reached a key milestone at Arbikie when we launched the world's first climate positive gin & vodka, Nàdar, thanks to our Master Distiller, Kirsty Black, who researched and ultimately distilled Nàdar as part of her PHD. Five years of research with academic partners, the James Hutton Institute and Abertay University, Kirsty also worked with Bangor University and Trinity College Dublin on Nàdar's lifecycle analysis. Nàdar is distilled using homegrown peas and saves >1.53 kg of CO2e per 700ml bottle.

Arbikie X ecoSPIRITS

We also recently partnered with ecoSPIRITS, and became one of the first UK brands to adopt their closed loop distribution technology, which aims to eliminate single use glass in the drinks industry. ecoSPIRITS 4.5 Litre reusable TOTE replaces the standard six bottle spirits case, as well as a semi-automated facility that sanitises, refills, and seals spirits. While our Nàdar spirits already achieve an impressive carbon saving of over 1.53 kg per 700ml bottle, partnering with ecoSPIRITS helps us reduce that carbon footprint even further, saving an additional 1.004kg CO2e solely through the elimination of single-use glass. ecoSPIRITS is the way forward for the drinks industry and we are proud adopters of this revolutionary technology.

Watch the video below to see how an ecoTOTE can work in the bar:

'Flora' Cocktail - The Savoy London

Our commitment to sustainability has opened up some amazing opportunities for us such as our new collaboration with The Savoy London and Eco Spirits:

Named 'Flora', this incredible new cocktail (now available at The Savoy London), is made with Nàdar Gin and uses seasonal, sustainable ingredients and revolutionary techniques to herald spring.

How to get involved with earth day:

Attend an Earth Day event .
Take action: There are lots of different ways in which you can take action, such as joining a clean up, changing up your consumption habits (e.g. buying local and seasonal products), or taking an earth day quiz. For more ideas, click HERE.
Spead the word: Raise awareness about earth day by sharing resources on social media and educate people on how they can make small and simple changes to lead a more sustainable lifestyle.

Three fun ways to upcycle your empty spirit bottles

The next time you reach for the recycling bin with your empty spirits bottle, think of how you could repurpose it to make something pretty or practical for your home. Creating something new out of your empty bottle also lends itself to a fantastic range of thoughtful and unique gifts for loved ones (and also saves money too!)

1) Candle Holder

Enhance your home decor by upcycling your empty spirits bottle to make a unique candle holder. Simply insert a drip candle and and you've got yourself an impressive new ornament. Make sure the candle is securely fixed in the bottle before lighting it!

2) Lamp Shade

Credit: @lightnshade_tayside

If you’re feeling crafty, try your hand at repurposing your empty spirit bottle to make a unique and funky lamp for your home like this one by @lightnshade_tayside.

3) Fairy Light Bottle Lamp

An easier and cheaper alternative to the lampshade is creating a fairy light bottle lamp. All you need is some small fairy lights, an empty, clean spirit bottle and you're good to go. This is an affordable and effortless way to create a warm atmosphere in your home and would also make a great outdoor decoration for the summer nights ahead.

Have you repurposed your empty Arbikie bottles? If so, please tag us so that we can see! Instagram: @arbikiedistillery | Facebook: @arbikiedistillery | Twitter: @arbikie

Arbikie Distillery