Cheers!
by Karin
We know the holidays are a festive time filled with cheer - often found in beverage form! Whether you are hosting an event or simply picking up a hot cocoa to go, there are many ways you can "green up" your holiday beverages. We hope "yule" love some of the tips we share here!
Celebrating with a drink during the holidays does not mean sacrificing sustainability. There's lots of small choices you can make every day that will add up to a big impact over the holidays!
When choosing wines, look for small production wineries with sustainable growing and bottling practices. For example, you can look for Napa Green certified wines. We have two wonderful local wine shops in Glen Ellyn who can advise you!
If your local brewery has reusable growlers, that is the greenest choice for beers and ciders. Lucky us, our local brewery has many green practices including selling beer in growlers and cans, AND will recycle the hard-top plastic can holders (p.s. - those can't go in your curbside bin).
Imported wine and spirits had to travel a looong way to get to your party. Consider domestic brands for a smaller carbon footprint.
At parties, rather than have plastic bottles to offer water to guests, serve tap water served in a pretty pitcher or washed wine bottle and jazz it up with fruit, cucumber or mint.
When throwing a party, have your guests bring their own mugs and portable drink glasses. Go Green has done this at some of our events and it makes doing the dishes a breeze!
Bring your reusable coffee cups to your favorite coffee place. Many local places (including Go Green’s “office” Blackberry Market) even give you a discount when you bring your own mug. It stays warmer and bonus--you have kept a cup and lid out of the landfill.
So many drinks you pick up to go can be easily made at home – think teas, lemonade, etc. And you can make it with less sweetener and artificial ingredients – exactly to your taste!
If given a choice, choose aluminum cans for on-the-go beverages. Aluminum is the best as it is lightest to ship as well as being infinitely recyclable. Water comes in cans now, and we have been seeing this at events and concerts with some creative branding!
Lastly, we cannot fail to mention plastic single-use water bottles. We know that it is a convenient way to have water as an option for holiday parties or to grab-and-go. We also know that anyone reading this newsletter knows that single-use plastic water bottles are not a positive environmental choice (resources - and water! - are expended to make bottles and ship them, they are difficult to recycle, oceans and waterways are awash in plastic, and being “recyclable” is not the same as being “recycled” as plastic recycling estimates range from 9% to a dismal 4%.) Every piece of plastic ever created is still in existence on our Earth. Instead:
Invest in a good reusable water bottle or gift one to a loved one.
If you have a water bottle, keep track of it! Ackerman Sport and Fitness Center has hundreds of bottles in the lost and found that never find their owners. Go Green sanitizes and resells them at our SportsSwap, so perhaps you can buy back the water bottle you left behind!
Here are a few more places where you can drink in more information on green beverage and bottle/can choices!
Environmental Impact of five different soft drink containers
Brewing a greener beer
Innovations in Eco-friendly beverage packaging
