"Saving the planet, one glass at a time."
I don't know why I didn't see this sooner. Maybe because I'm not much of a drinker? I have maybe one drink a month... and the hubby, when he drinks, usually drinks beer. We were in the store the other day - he wanted beer - when we saw this bottle with recycling symbols on it. Of course, this caught my attention, and his, too, so we checked it out, and decided to give it a try.
So, here are the eco-friendly details. The labels and the tag hanging from the neck on the Vodka 360 bottles are made with 100% post-consumer waste paper, processed chlorine free. The glass bottle is made with 85% recycled glass, 70% of that being post-consumer. The tag that hangs from the neck of the bottle is actually a pre-paid envelope. For what? To remove the swingtop from the bottle and mail it back to 360 Vodka. For every top returned, they donate $1.00 to environmental causes.
Good so far, right? There's more! The process used to create the vodka is highly energy efficient, with nothing going to waste. The label on the back of the bottle details "360 Vodka Environmental Benefits Statement," which says, "Earth Friendly Distilling Co. saved he following resources in the production of 360 Vodka's labels: 113 fully grown trees, 48,371 gallons of water, 81 million BTUs of energy, 5409 pounds of solid waste, 18,550 pounds of greenhouse gasses, 9222 miles of average driving in a U.S. car, and 0.8 years of average home electricity use." The vodka is quadruple distilled through a process that the company says "reduces the use of fossil fuel energy by 21%," and is five times filtered.
The company itself is also taking steps to help the environment. Among these are double sided printing, recycling of all supplies which are recyclable (they even have their own recycling center),
eliminating paper towels and polystyrene (plastic/styrofoam) untensils and cups, and even reusing plastic bags from received shipments as garbage bags. They have also purchased renewable energy certificates to offset their electricity and natural gas consumption.
If you haven't already left me to go Google the company, you can see their website here. As well as more information on the company and the product, the site includes desktop wallpapers, videos on the product, locations to buy the product, and even recipes with names like "Mother Earth," "Father Earth," "Apple Tree Hugger," and "Ecotini." There is a guide to going green, titled "The little green book," in the Downloads section that is beautifully laid out and includes some of the recipes. On the bottom of the site are rotating "Eco-Factoids," such as "36 recycled newspapers save an entire tree."
One thing I forgot to mention... the cost. Believe it or not, it was about the same price as another, non-eco brand. I haven't tried it yet, I was too busy taking the pictures 
When we open the bottle, I will update and let you all know how it is!
June 12th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Wow... that's pretty awesome... I don't drink, but the fact that they save that much money and are very into reusing the swing tops and even donating money since they realize theyare saving money by having people return the swing tops.
i am very very impressed!
June 12th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Looks like another wonderful idea to be more green. I love the idea that they are reducing and recycling the materials this company uses. Every little bit does help.
June 13th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Organic Baby Food said:
We drink so little, this bottle will probably last for years
We just thought it was so cool, we had to buy it.
Cindy, I think a lot more companies are doing this now, which is really great.
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Love this idea! I'm not really a vodka person, but I'd be tempted to buy this just to support their company. I wonder if there are any wine makers doing stuff like this? Someday in the distant future when I'm not breastfeeding anymore, I'd love to have a glass of eco-friendly wine!
June 25th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
Frugal Babe, I'll have to look and see if I can find eco-friendly wine makers! I'm not much a fan of wine (or vodka not in mixed drinks, for that matter), but it would be interesting to know, and I would expect that there would be some out there...
June 26th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
[...] Source 1, 2, and 3 [...]
June 30th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Cool way to help out the environment and to have a fun time as well. I am gonna have to recommend this to my friend and have him try it for me. If I ever drink I might have to try it myself.
December 29th, 2008 at 7:37 am
Great post! I like your thinking about eco friendly. This is good news for regular drinking of wine. I suggest to my friend circle about Eco friendly vodka.
January 13th, 2009 at 12:34 am
A terriffic way to save the planet. I will be looking for this brand of Vodka. I wonder how it tastes?
Cheers,
Steve
January 21st, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Steve, it tastes great! Smooth. I'm not much of a vodka drinker, but my husband enjoyed it.
March 26th, 2009 at 1:23 am
I don't like any types of alcohol product. I first time heard about eco friendly vodka and i want to try it.
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:29 pm
I know someone who would love this. I wonder if I'll see this in a liquor store near me anytime soon? Don't drink nearly as much as I did in college, but I'd probably buy this on a whim if I saw it, I'm a sucker like that.
April 7th, 2009 at 8:47 pm
Water Filtration, I'm not a big fan of alcohol either, but this one is good in mixed drinks.
John, we found it in our local grocery store. I'm not sure if it's that readily available elsewhere, but it's worth a shot!
June 20th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
I have not tried this vodka before, but believe me I will be.
I hope I can find it locally.
September 8th, 2009 at 11:54 am
My country (Brazil) should do the same. If every bottle of our national beverage do the same this would be a better world.