“Green” Wines Bring an Eco-Flair to Thanksgiving Dinner

There is no shortage of information about eco-friendly wines on the internet, but how may of you are taking this information with you when you visit your local package store?

Vineyards are bringing green innovation to their businesses in all sorts of ways. Some are rebuilding and improving their facilities to meet LEED certification. Using geothermal heating and cooling and recycled materials, Stratus Winery, Niagara, Ontario Canada became the first LEED Certified winery in North America. While the vineyard uses innovative, gravity-driven methods to process grapes and wine, they are not certified organic. 

Certified organic vineyards are using traditional methods of farming which improve the land’s soil while eliminating or limiting the use of synthetic pesticides. The details of organic versus conventional practices are significant. Organic wineries focus upon increasing biodiversity as a means to better the soil and therefore allow the growth of other kinds of vines in vineyards. These wineries also pay attention to the methods of production of the wines just as much as the growth of the grapes.

Still, other wineries are going green by choosing their power sources wisely. Since July 2007, the Staglin Family Winery has used 100% solar power. Other wineries are going 100% wind power. Either way, they are running entirely off the grid.

Looking for ways to implement a green angle to your wine consumption? Drink local! Whether the winery is organic, LEED certified, or operating off the grid, buying local will significantly decrease the number of miles your bottle traveled and therefore reduce its overall carbon footprint.

This year’s Thanksgiving holiday is likely to be one to be remembered for my fiance and I. Not only will it be our first Thanksgiving in our new home, but we are hosting my future in-laws for a family dinner. Both my fiancé and I are self-proclaimed professional environmentalists, so it seems only fitting that for this holiday we make the extra effort to find new ways to green our celebration. Since I’ve been spending some time thinking about how to turn a yellow and orange holiday green, I thought I would share a few tips over the next few days as you prepare for your family’s holiday.

Shop Strategically

Before you leave the house to gather all of the groceries and other necessary items you will need to host your Thanksgiving dinner, take a moment to plan your trip. Deciding what you need and where you plan to get those items will help you map out the most efficient route to take and reduce the number of stops you make – all aiding in reducing the amount of gas you use. One method I have found to reduce the amount of miles I drive is to use my GPS which helps me order stops in the most efficient way and, of course, ensures I don’t waste gas on a wrong turn or by sitting in traffic.

Better yet, go dark green on this step by taking public transportation and walking for errands that are less than two miles away. Every little bit counts so do the best you can.

Buy Local and Learn When Organics Are Worth the Expense

Buying products produced locally not only supports your community’s local economy (something all of our communities could use) but it also helps reduce your carbon footprint. Locally made products are not shipped thousands of miles to get to you – a major reduction in the amount of fossil fuels used. Further, locally grown produce from your farmers market just tastes so much better than that out of season fruit in the grocery store. Search for your closest farmers market or other local harvest. Not all organic foods are equal in their bang (benefit) for the buck (cost). For produce, the Environmental Working Group is there to help. They have created a pocket shoppers guide to help you decide based on which fruits and vegetables are found to be most highly contaminated with pesticides. To be fair, it’s also important to think more broadly about the use of pesticides by taking into account the workers who are exposed to the chemicals in the fields. This is a time of year for us to be thankful for all of the people who help us bring safe, healthy food to our tables, the least we can do is work to protect their health and safety too.

Conventional, Organic, Free-Range, To-fur-Key – What to Choose? Stay Tuned for the next post.

Image by Flickr user Lordog used under a Creative Commons License.