Vibe-Winter-2425 - Flipbook - Page 29
GO SUSTAINABLE TIP OF THE MONTH
For readers interested in exploring a company from a highly polluting industry that transformed into a leader on sustainability issues, Confessions of a
Radical Industrialist, by Ray Anderson, is a worthy adventure. Anderson was
the founder and CEO of Interface, a carpet manufacturing company with a
large environmental footprint. He passionately chronicles his personal and,
as a result, company’s journey up, what he termed, Mt. Sustainability. Anderson describes how preparing for and ascending this summit “enhanced our
brand reputation, reduced our costs, and boosted our productivity.”
In Anderson’s mind, Mt. Sustainability has seven faces that any enterprise
can and should attempt to conquer: Eliminate Waste; Reduce Emissions;
Deploy Renewable Energy; Close the Loop; Create Efficient Transportation; Engage Stakeholders; and Redesign Commerce. The book is extremely
well-written and takes the reader into the motivations for pursuing sustainability. “Everything we accomplished … has been done with good old capitalist self-interest firmly in mind,” Anderson wrote. “Cost savings, return on
investment, product innovation, customer service and market share—not
just sustainability—were the stars we were steering by.”
So, Burk hopes to fill some of that
void with his grain-to-glass need for
organic corn, wheat, barley, rye, malt,
and assorted fruits and vegetables.
And while organic grains can cost four
times more than those conventionally
grown, Burk says the premium does
not measurably increase the price of
the distillery’s offerings. That’s because
taxes, bottling, and other inputs occupy
most of the costs.
Moving beyond organics, Cathedral
Ledge incorporated numerous energy
and process efficiencies when designing
and constructing its barn.
“Starting a business requires making
thousands of decisions, which can feel
like chores, but they’re also opportunities to reflect our values,” Burk notes.
“In many ways, distilling is the intersection of science and folklore.”
The barn supplies its own need
for electricity through 63 solar panels and offers two free—and publicly
available—EV charging stations. Its
windows, walls, and roof exceed code
requirements for efficiency, and it
recirculates process energy for heating.
From an architectural perspective, the
barn emanates genuine warmth and
a sense of what an old-fashioned still
might have felt like.
Burk says eliminating plastics and
reducing packaging are critical goals,
and the company uses 100 percent
post-consumer recycled glass for its
products. Cathedral Ledge even considers what some may consider bur-
Winter 2024/25
densome, such as only using reusable
tasting glasses at off-site events and in
its tasting room.
The company, which handcrafts
vodka, whiskey, bourbon, gin, and
liqueur—and was named Distillery of
the Year by the NH Liquor Commission
in 2023—can recycle the water it uses
for various purposes. Speaking of water,
Burk is clearly proud of the source and
contents of the water that provides the
foundation for the company’s products.
“Our water runs off the base of
Mount Washington, right into our backyard,” he says, adding that it’s unfiltered
and tested regularly. “We love our local
minerals in our water.”
Unlike most larger distillers, Cathedral Ledge refuses to inject additives
for so-called mouthfeel—the sensation
that’s created in the mouth by food or
drink. Government regulations typically
allow for up to 2.5 percent of a spirit to
contain mouthfeel enhancers, such as
sugar or glycerin, without informing the
consumer on the label. Not surprisingly,
Burk doesn’t think highly of this practice or policy.
In the end, Burk says that spirits are
a luxury and jokes that “it’s hooch, not
health food.” Yet, he strongly believes
that consumers who do imbibe should
know what ingredients are used and
have the opportunity to support farmers and producers who value preserving
the environment.
“We’re proud,” he says, “that
ours is organic and sustainable.”
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