Choosing the right wine from extensive selections isn’t always easy. Often the most natural starting point is what type of wine you like anyway. However, even after this narrowing down, the range of possible choices is still huge. At this point, you might think about making this small everyday decision also a good choice for the environment. <\/p>\n\n
Of course, the matter isn’t entirely straightforward, black and white, or even green and white. One thing affects another and the whole picture is what matters. To ease the consumer’s dilemma, a number of certifications have also been created. They’re important because anyone can know exactly what criteria must be met at minimum in the product’s production and\/or raw materials to receive that status. Certifications also typically involve inspection by an external auditor, ensuring that everyone is evaluated objectively by exactly the same criteria. Certifications or not, some products have special characteristics that are good for the environment. Alko helps consumers and communicates about environmentally friendly wine choices with the Green Choice<\/a> label. Below we’ll look more closely at organic, wine packaging, and vegan options. <\/p>\n\n Organic certification is supervised and granted by each country of origin’s own authority. The criteria within the EU are consistent, but there are some differences in exact regulations when comparing EU rules to American ones, for example. Whatever the country of origin of the certification, as consumers we can trust that with this choice, environmental matters are in order. <\/p>\n\n In organic viticulture, the goal is biodiversity. For this reason, you can often see plenty of grass and other vegetation between the vine rows in organic vineyards. The soil stays loose, and pollinators and other beneficial insects thrive in the flowers and plants. Organic wine production thus nurtures flora and fauna. To control plant diseases and pest insects, only natural pesticides may be used\u2014synthetic chemicals are prohibited. <\/p>\n\n Sulfites, or sulfur compounds, are important for wine preservation. They occur naturally in grapes, but this natural ‘preservative’ may also be added to organic wine. However, maximum levels have been set at EU level lower than in so-called normal wine production. You can read more about sulfites here<\/a><\/strong>. All in all, the amount of foreign and added substances in organic wines is lower than in regular ones, although even organic certification can’t promise a completely additive-free choice. <\/p>\n\n Read more about organic wines here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n Few people realize how significant wine packaging is for its environmental impact. You might rather assume that transporting the wine would be the most significant factor. But international transport actually represents only about 3-4 percent of wine’s environmental impact. The most significant factor is the packaging itself, which represents as much as 46% of the product’s total environmental impact. This was revealed in a study<\/a> commissioned by the Nordic alcohol monopolies in 2014-2016. <\/p>\n\n Alko states on its website that the smallest<\/em> carbon footprint relative to liters of beverage was found to be with bag-in-box packaging, or BIB. Other lightweight packages also stand out favorably, such as carton packaging tetra and wine pouch. Although plastic is generally viewed very critically from an environmental perspective, when it comes to wine, a plastic or PET bottle is a positive choice. Among bottled wines, it was the most climate-friendly option. In Finland, thanks to the deposit system, the recycling rate for plastic wine bottles is very high, so that also supports plastic wine bottles as a good option. <\/p>\n\n The largest<\/em> carbon footprint, on the other hand, turned out to be with the so-called traditional glass bottle, meaning one that doesn’t meet the lightweight bottle definition. Alko considers the lightweight bottle threshold for a 75 cl wine bottle to be a maximum of 420 grams. Sparkling wine bottles must be thicker glass to withstand the pressure in the bottle. For them, the lightweight bottle maximum weight limit is 835 grams. A lightweight bottle is better because less glass has been used. Glass production consumes a lot of energy to reach the high temperature it requires. A lighter bottle also indirectly has a positive effect on the environmental impact of transport, as loads become lighter. <\/p>\n\n Read more about environmentally responsible packaging here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n\n There are numerous certifications available for vegan wines, and there’s no single unified certifying body operating with the same monitoring criteria. Additionally, it’s possible that the producer simply mentions in the product text that it’s suitable for vegans. A wine can be called vegan when no animal-derived processing aids have been in contact with the wine during its production. Such processing aids have traditionally been used for clarifying and filtering wine, such as egg white. <\/p>\n\n Read more about vegan wines here.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\nOrganic wine<\/h4>\n\n
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