Sapling Spirits cuts CO2 emissions with lighter bottle

Climate-positive alcohol brand Sapling Spirits is introducing a 44% lighter bottle as part of its efforts to reduce its carbon footprint, with the new vessel cutting the CO2 of each product by 0.66kg, as it celebrates its new listing with CLF Distribution.

The company's mission to achieve exceptional taste while leaving no footprint on the planet began after the co-founders met at school and later bonded during a tree-planting project in the Scottish Highlands. Self-described as ‘a bunch of tree huggers who can appreciate a good drink’, Ed Faulkner and Ivo Devereux created their first Climate Positive Vodka — using organic winter wheat — in 2018 in response to what they saw as shortcomings in the alcohol industry, and their business now holds the title of the highest-scoring B Corp gin and vodka brand worldwide. 

Sapling Spirits’ commitment to being climate-positive is supported by its focus on regenerative practices and ‘One Bottle, One Tree’ program, through which a tree is planted for every premium bottle sold. To date, over 400,000 trees have been planted, with a goal of reaching 500,000 this year. 

With wonky fruit

While vodka has been central to the brand, Sapling has since expanded its offering to include climate-positive gin and flavoured vodka using wonky fruit rejected by supermarkets. The brand recently launched a regenerative vodka, which uses farming methods designed to return carbon from the atmosphere to the ground, and has an established refills service for both trade and D2C customers to reduce packaging consumption. 

By Rosie Greenaway, editor