When Jamey Foxx debuted his hit song “Blame It” in 2009, he likely wasn’t thinking of blaming the consumption of a-a-a-a-a-alcohol on climate change. That said, the choices we make when we decide to hit the sauce can heavily impact our planet, and it seems as if there are more ways than one to drink responsibly. When thinking about how your drink of choice impacts our environment, there are a number of considerations, including packaging, raw materials, production (energy use), and transportation. Fun fact: If you live east of this line, wine shipped from France might be more sustainable than wine shipped from California, because French wine is likely to be transported via sea freight.

Cider: 

The most sustainable alcoholic beverage you can consume, regardless of other factors, is cider. Apple trees are perennials, which means they can be harvested year after year without being cut down and damaging to soil health, and their roots have the ability to sequester CO2 from the atmosphere. Cider doesn’t require a ton of additional resources like water or added sugar. Finally, lots of cider producers opt for lighter packaging in aluminum cans, which is always a win.

Mead:

Runner-up for most sustainable is Mead, a honey-based wine. When Honey is produced sustainably, it can support healthy populations of bees (bees are crucial to pollinating 80% of flowering crops and nearly 150 fruits and vegetables!). Mead consists only of honey, water and yeast, so it’s another one that causes no soil disruption or degradation.

Beer:

New Belgium Brewing conducted a study on the carbon fotprint of their Fat Tire Amber Ale, and the two biggest factors impacting greenhouse gas emissions are refrigeration (33% of GHG) and glass production (22%). Water is another big factor, and the general rule for breweries is that they use 5-10 times more water than atually leaves the premises as beer (which fails to include the water needed to grow the grain, or the water required to drink the next day if you’re hungover ;)). Brewing actually accounts for less than 20% of the overall environmental impact. In terms of bottling, glass bottles are made from silica, which has less of an environmental impact than mining bauxite for aluminum cans, but aluminum cans most often contain more recycled content and are lighter than bottles so have a better transportation profile. General Beer rule: If the brewery is close to where you’re drinking and there’s a good glass recycling program, drink bottled beer. If the brewery is far away, drink cans.

Spirits:

Spirits use more water per ounce than any other alcohol, but you’re (ideally) drinking less of it. The largest impacts are pretty liquor-dependent. Whiskey’s biggest expenditure are farming the grains and the distilling process. Vodka reuqires more water and energy than other spirits to distill. Rum comes from sugarcane, which is super destructive as a crop and produces more wastewater and emissions. Tequila comes from agave which grows slowly and is vulnerable to pests. General Spirit Rule: Drink local whiskey at the distillery. If you’re in the US, drink a Kentucky bourbon over an Irish whiskey or Mexican tequila. Shout out to Maker’s Mark, which has very good environmental practices. 86% of what goes into each bottle is grown on-site or within 60 miles of the distillery - even the water is local!

Here are some of my favorite brands:

‍Triple Bottom Brewing: These awesome people track water, gas and electricity to divert as much away from landfills as possible. Their spent grain goes to a local composter, and all of their electricity is wind-powered from Pennsylvania. The icing on the cake (foam on the beer?) is that they’re a fair chance business, so some folks on their team have overcome homeless or incarceration to work there. If you’re in Philadelphia, pay them a visit.

Half Shell Vodka: First spirit in the US to be sold in 94% recycled paperboard bottle, which is 6 times less impactful than glass bottles. It’s crafted from 100% American cornand filtered through activated coconut carbon and oyster shells.

Pure Project Brewing: Uses local California grown dry farmed, no-til and organic grain, is a 1% for the planet member as well as climate-neutral certified.

Batiste Rhum: Uses non-plow sugarcane planting practices and harvests annually without burn. The recycle distillery waste is used as fertilizer, and the boiler runs on crushed cane stalk.

Benzinger Wines: All wins have third-party certification of green farming practices: sustainable, organic and biodynamic certifications.