Sustainability
We have seen first-hand the pressures of climate change in vineyards and olive groves. As a business, we are committed to curbing the effects of climate change to help ensure the sustainability of the global wine industry. Liberty Wines was the first ‘carbon neutral plus’ national wine distributor in the UK and we have been listed as a sustainable supplier by the Sustainable Restaurant Association since 2015.
Carbon Neutral Plus
In 2021, our eighth year of carbon neutral certification, we went one step further and became the only ‘carbon neutral plus’ UK wine supplier – offsetting more carbon emissions than the business generates to achieve a positive environmental impact. The transportation of every bottle we deliver is carbon neutral, as we offset all emissions from the cellar door to our customers’ door but we are committed to doing more. Our environmental committee continually reviews our progress and sets new targets. We are currently extending the scope of our carbon emissions appraisal to include more scope 3 emissions.
Reducing emissions
Our main priority continues to be reducing emissions. Since relocating to our new office and warehouse facility in 2013, we have worked hard to do this by:
- switching to 100% renewable energy in our Clapham headquarters
- transporting European wines by rail rather than road where possible
- recycling 100% of our office waste, with nothing going to landfill
- going paperless in customer services and our warehouse, and developing our e-pricelist
Unavoidable emissions are offset via Carbon Footprint’s offsetting programme, Through this we have invested in global projects such as planting trees to protect forests and increase biodiversity in Kenya, reducing deforestation in the Amazonian rain forest and installing and maintaining wind turbines in Maharashtra, India.
A sustainable future
We look for producers who share our values, who see themselves as custodians of the land, and who tread lightly to preserve it for future vintages and generations to come.
A move to reduced intervention in the vineyard was already underway by the mid-1980s, with producers like Isole e Olena and Fontodi demonstrating how better grapes could be produced in a ‘greener’ way.
A significant number of our producers use sustainable, organic and biodynamic methods and it is encouraging to see that this tends to correspond with an increase in the quality of the wines.
When we source other goods, such as office supplies, we look to purchase items that are recycled, ethical and sustainable and purchase only when necessary.