Making a Difference with Bees and Booze
Hi, Friends! It’s nice to be back after a lovely hiatus that included a fabulous road trip (via hybrid) through New England with my husband. I could write a book about all of the cool things we saw and did, but I’ll spare you most of the story. Suffice it to say that New England is wonderful, and I’ve added a state to my top 5: Vermont. (If I were a city, I think I’d be Montpelier.)
On our journey we discovered some good people who are making a difference for the planet, and the folks that I’m excited to tell you about are Ryan Christiansen and his staff at Barr Hill Distillery in Montpelier. Barr Hill is part of Caledonia Spirits, creators of small batch spirits, “Landcrafted® in the heart of Vermont.” Their products began with Barr Hill Gin in 2011, and since then, Caledonia has gone on to create Barr Hill Vodka, Tom Cat Gin, and Phyllis Rye Whiskey. But what does distilling spirits have to do with the environment, you ask? Well, plenty, if you do it right.
Photo Source: https://www.barrhill.com/pages/visit-us
Barr Hill Distillery caught my eye from the highway – its huge roof is covered with solar panels, and signage explains that they’re serious about sustainability. Caledonia’s operations began in Hardwick, VT, and as they grew and needed more space, the owners designed their sprawling new home in Montpelier with “sustainability and conservation in mind at every step.” The facility was built on a restored brownfield site and includes not only 84kW of rooftop solar, but also:
LED lighting and lots of natural light to reduce electricity consumption
High-performance insulated siding to reduce heating and cooling
Low-flow plumbing for water use reduction
A water recovery system that reduces water use by 83%
Low-impact stormwater treatment practices
Composting of some distillery and bar waste
Landscaping with local species to support wildlife
Electric car charging
PLUS
100% of their stillage (the remains after grains are distilled) is turned into renewable fuel at the Montpelier biodigester
AND
The facility is accessible from downtown Montpelier on foot or bike!
But the design of their facility is only part of Barr Hill’s commitment to the planet and the community. Barr Hill is also devoted to working with area farms to source responsibly grown ingredients, supporting the sustainability of the community and the land. And the fine folks at Barr Hill are always looking for new ways to spread the word about the importance of being good stewards, including the annual Bee’s Knees Week, celebrating the classic Bee’s Knees cocktail (recipe on the website) while raising awareness of the importance of pollinators as well as funds to create and protect wild foraging spaces for bees and other pollinators.
Photo credit: K. Beysselance
Even if you can’t make it to Montpelier, you can participate in Bee’s Knees Week next June. Watch the Barr Hill website to learn the dates, then post a picture of your Bee’s Knees cocktail on social media and tag @barrhillgin. For every tagged post, Barr Hill will fund one square foot of new pollinator habitat! (And for those of you who would prefer to celebrate bees with a mocktail, here’s a link to a recipe for that.)
You see, it doesn’t matter what business you’re in, you can help sustain our beautiful planet.
We’re all in this together – including the bees!