Sustainability

At Shakespeare Distillery

"For, being green, there is great hope…"William Shakespeare

Carbon Neutral Spirits

with a twist of history

We are proud to have been certified as a carbon neutral business in 2022. Our aim is to minimise our environmental impact and become a truly sustainable business. It’s the right thing to do and it supports the UK government’s target of achieving net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

How are we doing this? Firstly, with the help of ClimatePartner, we calculated our carbon footprint. This gave us a plan showing where we could make immediate positive change; where we needed to plan further and how we could offset emissions that we couldn’t reduce straightaway.

We’ve further reduced our CO2 emissions by over 30% since becoming carbon neutral. There’s still a lot to do but we have started our sustainable journey and we’re already making an impact. Learn how by choosing a category below...

01:

Be still

Our two stills, Portia and Ophelia, and our fermenter, Titania, are heavily insulated making them highly energy-efficient. They use less energy and water than traditional styles and run on electricity (rather than gas).

02:

pack it up

We use as little packaging as possible and, what we do use, we make sure it’s as sustainable as possible. We bottle, label, seal and distribute from the distillery building by hand.

Glass bottles: fully recyclable
Cardboard boxes: removed plastic display windows so now fully recyclable
Tamper seals on bottles: made from compostable PLA/biodegradable material

03:

Deals on wheels

Getting an electric van for our deliveries has massively reduced our emissions. Our other company car is electric and we have on-site charging plugs at the distillery.

Reduced fuel costs
Minimising carbon emissions
Salary sacrifice scheme to help staff to buy electric vehicles

04:

Botanical Studies

We have our own small garden where we grow rosemary for our gin distillation so we don’t need to bring it in from elsewhere. We are planting more botanicals, such as roses, bay and sage, for our spirits and gin school as well as ‘greening’ the distillery by planting flowers and herbs.

We try to use as many locally grown ingredients; for example, honey is sourced from a local beekeeper for use in our Gin and Rum Schools
Most of our used botanicals are collected and go to create electricity through anaerobic digestion
The rest of our used botanicals go to a local charcuterie to cure meats
Our plants attract bees and other insects to help pollination

05:

reuse

We have a refill scheme so customers can bring back their empty 50cl bottles and we will refill them at a discounted rate to encourage the reuse of glass bottles.

We don’t buy brand new if there’s a perfectly acceptable refurbished or second-hand option
Staff fridge, office furniture and coffee machine are second-hand

06:

waste not

‘Heads, hearts and tails’ are the different stages of distillation. The heads and tails are the ‘waste’ part of the process. The heads must be disposed of (they contains methanol and acetaldehyde – not nice); however, the tails are redistilled which enables us to convert them back to 96% ABV ethanol which we use for fruit gin.

Our waste is collected by a fully carbon neutral waste management company
Pallets are taken away and reused – some are made into furniture such as benches, tables… even rabbit runs!

07:

Power lines

The distillery is run on 100% renewable energy and we have solar panels on the roof. Judith’s, our shop in town, is also supplied by an electricity provider using 100% renewable energy.

All lights are LED
Our website provider runs on renewable energy
Lights regulated automatically by a motion sensor to save energy

Sustainability at Shakespeare Distillery

Carbon Offsetting

We are embracing as many sustainable strategies as we can and, while we have reduced our emissions, we know there is still a long way to go and we are continuing to look at new ways to reduce our carbon footprint. For now, the remaining current carbon emissions are being offset through three projects offered by ClimatePartner so that we are fully carbon neutral.

Supporting three projects gives us the opportunity to spread our impact and use our financial investment to offset in three different locations.

Clean Drinking water

Tree Planting

renewable energy

Offsetting project 01:

Biomass Project

This project promotes the use of biomass instead of coal. Due to a rapidly expanding population in Soacha, Colombia, more houses, consisting of mudbrick, are being built, requiring increased brick production. While brick manufacturing supports the livelihoods and the economy of the regional residents, the coal-fired kilns are not sustainable and worsen carbon emissions. The Santander brickyard company switched to more energy-efficient kilns that run on 80% renewable biomass, saving up to 20,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per year.

Socially, this project reinforces health and wellbeing in Soacha, as well as accessibility to clean energy. It saves carbon emissions, benefitting the environment, whilst also incentivising the economy’s production and consumption patterns.

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Offsetting project 02:

Clean Drinking Project

This clean drinking water project in Kono, Sierra Leone supports the maintenance and restoration of wells to ensure adequate water supply and quality in the region. Traditionally, water had to be boiled to make it clean and safe to drink and wash with; it’s estimated that burning wood to boil water contributes to 10,000 tons of CO₂e emissions.

Centuries ago, people drank alcohol because it was considered purer and safer than the water that was accessible to most of the population. Just as our alcohol has to be purified and cleaned, we consider clean and accessible water for everyone as crucial and vital to moving towards an equal, fair and sustainable future community.

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Offsetting project 03:

Wind Energy Project

This is a wind energy project in the northeast of Brazil. These power plants provide clean energy in contrast to the widespread fossil-fuel industry. The project is not only improving environmental action but also supporting local communities: the electricity enables further construction work, including schools, wells and pipelines, as well as essential infrastructural frameworks.

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Offsetting project 01:

Clean Drinking Water

80 % of households in Laos rely on boiling their drinking water to prevent gastrointestinal diseases. However, boiling water releases significant amounts of CO₂ emissions, as inefficient cooking methods using wood or coal are common. Therefore, this climate project sells ceramic water filters to provide clean drinking water to rural communities.

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Offsetting project 02:

Climate Project + Tree Planting

This combined project contributes to the financing of a certified climate project and additionally supports tree planting in the United Kingdom. For every tonne of CO₂ saved through the contribution via a certified climate project, we plant one tree in the UK. This way, we promote the conversion of structurally poor forests and monocultures into more resilient mixed woodlands that can better adapt to changing climate conditions.

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Offsetting project 03:

Renewable Energy

Interest and demand for renewable energies are growing on the Asian continent as well. Climate projects generate necessary resources to drive the expansion of sustainable technologies. This renewable energy portfolio supports projects in several countries across Asia. It consists of the following climate projects, certified by the Gold Standard or the Verified Carbon Standard:

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