The other night a customer told me she only buys Washington wine— she does so, she said, because it’s the best way to minimize her “consumer carbon footprint.” I, of course, wanted to show her some other options, just in case she wanted to try something different.
I proudly brought a Pinot Noir from Chile, made by the tremendously huge and well-financed Cono Sur label, up to the counter. “There you go,” I said, putting down the bottle in front of her. “That’s carbon neutral wine.”
She looked me straight in the eye, unfazed and unimpressed: “Now, how can something shipped all the way from Chile be carbon neutral?” I stopped right then and there. She was right.
The hard part is that phrases like “carbon neutral delivery” and “sustainable farming practices” are easy to say, and may appear on labels, but the down-to-earth reality is often something different.
Size and distance matters when it comes to environmental issues of any kind, but especially in farming. Think of it this way: in a large vineyard, or a remarkably huge one, it is harder to keep an eye on all the vines, keep them fertilized, and to tend them and finally to harvest the grapes without a great deal of extra energy and materials to cover that much area. In contrast, if a vineyard is small enough to be walked and checked, no vehicle is needed to drive around, except perhaps to do larger plowing jobs or to carry the grapes to the crushing facility.
Furthermore, the term “organic” can get sticky. In order to be “certified organic,” a vineyard or company has to complete a lot of steps— steps that cost money and time. So small farmers, who may have practices which would easily obtain such certification, don’t end up getting the label.
So what can one do to support good practices? Two examples to follow are Mike Lempriere of Perennial Vintners and Matt Albee of Eleven Winery, both on Bainbridge Island.
Mike from Perennial Vintners explains some of the issues with environmental vocabulary on his website:
“Organically grown grapes, Sustainable farming, Biodynamic, and Least-toxic are all vineyard practices. These each have their strict rules, but you’ll have to decide what’s important to you, thus which products you choose to buy. The important thing to note is that to become certified as adhering to any of these practices takes at least 3 years. A new designation has appeared recently of “in transition” meaning that the vineyard is partway through this process.
Least-Toxic: As an example, it is possible to kill weeds with boiling water or steam — very environmentally friendly, and with no residuals like salmon stream runoff. However, when you consider the energy consumed in heating all that water, the “carbon footprint” may be worse than would be using a specific targeted weed killer. And what about using a tractor to do mechanical weed removal? Again, the “carbon footprint” of fossil fuels consumed by the tractor may be worse than alternatives — it’s all what you choose as the most important.
At Perennial Vintners our vineyard is maintained in a manner that would pass the State of Washington organic certification, although we have not gone through the certification process. (Remember, it takes 3 years.) We do intend to complete the WA State Organic certification process in the future. (The packet of paperwork is on my desk — it’s over 1/4″ thick, 37 pages!)”
This does not mean Mike’s not interested in organic or sustainable farming—it does mean he has to make choices. Either he can dig, plow, plant, prune, watch the weather, keep an eye on the myriad details that lead to harvest, take care of his family, be a dad . . . or, he can fill out forms, jump through hoops, and “comply” with what he needs to do to become “certified organic.” For me, the bottom line is that I trust him. He’s doing it the right way, because he is part of a small community which “answers to itself” in the end, and he is aware of his place in the larger community. I invite people who attend the tasting this Thursday night to ask a lot of questions. That way we can continue the expand the dialogue.
Mike also suggests the concept of the “100 mile diet”: the closer to home the products we buy are made, the lower the impact overall of packaging, distribution, and transportation. As Mike notes, Bainbridge actually represents the closest set of vineyards to downtown Seattle as the crow flies. The idea of supporting and buying local is well explained and centralized at the Puget Sound Fresh website. It’s well worth a look.
In addition to supporting sustainable farming, using recycled materials to make his packaging, Matt Albee of Eleven Winery also has specific goals to create positive change. In one of his blog posts about his winery, he explains:
“Ok, so here’s the deal. I love making wine and being in the wine business. But ultimately, I don’t want to be just another schmo schlepping wine. Where’s the fun in that? I want to make a difference in the world – I think all of us do, in one way or another. But it’s a challenge – you grow up, you have kids, and pretty soon you’ve got financial and time commitments that make it all but impossible to give of yourself. Amazingly, many people still do, which is a real tribute to the human spirit. But for the majority of us, whose paths have led us outside the direct philanthropic arena, and whose careers don’t have a lot of cushion in them, it can be very difficult to help realize the changes that are so desperately wanted in the world.”
The bottom line? He aims to donate his profits to charity: “Eleven Winery will always donate all of its profits to charity, specifically charities that focus on ending the cycle of poverty, in the U.S. and abroad. We anticipate reaching profitability in 2009; until then, we will donate $1,000 annually to World Bicycle Relief, an organization that provides bicycles to communities in Africa (they had a cool segment on the Today Show recently, btw).”
So there are plenty or ideas, plenty to look forward to, and plenty to support. In our own Capitol Hill Community, transportation, urban density and planning will be some of the major issues over the next ten years. And while the things on the Hill are likely to get much more chaotic before they get better, I have consistently seen and heard the right attitude to support change: many customers who come in the shop have walked or biked; they almost always have their own bags— and customers also frequently turn down a need for a printed receipt. Such small changes in consumer behavior can have tremendous impact as more and more people engage in such positive practices.
Take some time to “look around” on the web; as our community impact comes more into focus, knowledge and networking will be key.
Cheers,
Haj
