Which is the most eco-friendly alcoholic drink?
Wine, beer or spirits: which has the biggest environmental impact? And would you pass on your favourite tipple if it was shown to damage the environment?
It seems that cider has the least environmental impact of all the alcoholic drinks, and spirits the worst. This stance is largely based on the proposition that the most significant impact – in terms of energy use, at least – is caused by the manufacturing stage, as opposed to the packaging or transportation phase of a drink’s lifecycle. I would agree with this argument in most cases, but it does seem there are some massive variables between the various types of alcoholic drinks.
For example, beer seems to get a fairly bad rap from readers because its production requires plenty of heating, cooling and water, not to forget the often agriculturally intensive ingredients.
Read full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/green-living-blog/2010/aug/31/alcoholic-drink-environmental-impact-worst
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