As well as striving to produce affordable world-class gins, York Gins has also been endeavouring to make its business as sustainable as it possibly can. Its progress in achieving this objective was recently underlined after the company became 100% plastic free.
This means there is absolutely no plastic in any of York Gin’s products or packaging:
- Its gin bottles have paper seals rather than plastic ones;
- Its stoppers are made from cork and wood;
- Its gift packs are cleverly designed to hold bottles securely using only cardboard;
- The garnishes that are sent out with its Discovery Packs are packed in paper envelopes’
- Even the tape it used on its cardboard boxes for trade customers is made of paper.
In terms of other sustainable achievements that York Gin has made, its distillery and shop both run on 100% green electricity, which comes from sustainable sources. This is more expensive than other tariffs, but means its environmental impact is significantly reduced.
The company’s delivery van is also 100% electric – contributing to a major reduction in its carbon emissions. And the electric van is powered by the green energy that runs the distillery.
The van only has a limited range but delivers free in the York area.
What’s more, York Gin recycles 100% of its paper and cardboard waste, any broken glass and any recyclable plastic from its suppliers. It also encourages customers to re-use their empty bottles in several ways:
- As vases and reed diffusers;
- To hold oils, washing-up liquid, etc in the kitchen;
- The miniatures make lovely salt cellars and pepper pots;
- As lamps – just put a string of LED lights in (they’re very cheap) and the bottle is transformed!
York Gin also gives away empty bottles in its shop. It just asks for a small donation to one of its charities: St Leonard’s Hospice and York Cats Protection. Customers who want to, can then re-use them.
York Gin offers the rye flour dough that seals its still when distilling for customers to create sourdough starters. It also works with local York company PurePallets that re-use discarded wood for its shop fittings and gifts.
As it looks to build on the tremendous progress it has made already, York Gin remains committed to further reducing its carbon footprint and impact on the environment. It is therefore now working hard on its Carbon Neutral Plan. This will be attained by a mix of composting, recycling and re-using even more materials, a bottle refill & re-use scheme, tree planting initiatives, support for litter picking projects and an environmental audit of all its suppliers.