We spend so much time and energy thinking of ways to reduce our impact on the environment that we all love, and how to build creative experiences without harming our surroundings. Sometimes, the solutions are obvious to everybody; sometimes, the idea is just slightly out of our reach. Luckily for Team Wonderfruit, we can turn to the talents and smarts of our friends and suppliers.
Drinking, like dancing, is a part of Wonderfruit. Whether for late night tipples or day-long hydration, The Fields welcome Wonderers wanting to imbibe. The problem is the manufacture, transport, and storage of the 40 billion bottles of spirits the world drinks each year releases a huge amount of CO2 into the atmosphere, contributing to the devastating effects of climate change. We want everyone to have a chance to hydrate themselves with something tasty while enjoying Wonderfruit, but we also want to limit the scale of our carbon footprint. It’s a problem very few people ever consider, and one we have been grappling with since day one.
This is one of the occasions where our friends can step in and help. EcoSpirits has been thinking about the same problems we have, but they are far better qualified to address the issue—these are the same people responsible for one of Asia’s largest independent alcohol distribution networks. EcoSpirits have created an entirely new supply chain for spirits, reducing the carbon footprint of spirits by 80% and the glass and cardboard waste by more than 90%.
Naturally, we were excited to hear all of this. We are even more excited to host this system at Wonderfruit in December. For the first time, each of our bars in The Fields will be supplied by EcoSpirits. That means no glass bottles, no cardboard boxes, and only one delivery from the source to the site. EcoSpirits deliver spirits in bulk containers, and our bartenders all collect the drinks they need from our central refill stations—just like Wonderers refill their water bottles and reusable cups from our filtered water stations. This process eliminates multiple carbon-emitting steps from traditional alcohol production, which can typically involve multiple facilities in different parts of the world. The cycle can see a single bottle of spirits shipped between three or four factories from distillation to delivery, generating more than 500 grams of carbon emissions per bottle. That’s 30 grams per serve. Without a bottle, the drinks can be shipped directly and no waste is generated. When Wonderfruit is over, the bulk refill bottles are reused in bars, hotels, restaurants, and events.
It’s an almost perfect solution for Wonderfruit: a closed cycle which reduces emissions, eliminates waste, and keeps every Wonderer’s cup full. Every sip is making a difference. Bottoms up.
