Who is Liberty Wines?
David Gleave MW founded Liberty Wines in 1997 with only four employees. Now with a portfolio of over 300 wines, Liberty Wines is a widely respected importer and wholesaler in the United Kingdom. With over 100 employees, Liberty Wines focuses on employee wellbeing, environment and sustainability, alcohol and responsibility, and charitable giving.
What is “Carbon Neutral Plus”?
In collaboration with Carbon Footprint, a company can take its efforts and commitment to sustainability by becoming certified “Carbon Neutral Plus”. This certification displays the company is offsetting more emissions than the business generates to guarantee a positive environmental impact. Through this program, companies can fund various global projects such as planting trees to protect forests and biodiversity in Kenya, reducing deforestation in the Amazonian rain forest, and installing and maintaining wind turbines in India.
Setting the Example
As the only UK wine importer to be carbon neutral, Liberty Wines is dedicated to helping curb the effects of climate change, protecting the vineyards, and ensuring the sustainability of the global wine industry. 8 years into the company’s carbon-neutral certification, Managing Director David Gleave is determined to pave the way for the rest of the wine industry to follow, “After years of conversations with grape growers and hearing first-hand the impact of erratic or extreme weather on their harvests, I’m in no doubt as to the need to address climate change with a sense of urgency. As a fast-growing company, it’s imperative that we build a sustainable future, and it’s gratifying to see our annual emissions fall as business levels increase. The move to ‘carbon neutral plus’ certification seemed a natural next step and enables us to make a positive contribution to the environment. We’re also pleased to support Seawilding and the valuable work they’re doing to restore native oyster populations and protect marine habitats.”
Here are some of the changes Liberty Wines has committed to with the certification of “Carbon Neutral Plus”:
- 100% of head office and warehouse electricity comes from renewable sources
- From door to door: carbon neutral transportation for every bottle of wine that is imported and distributed
- 100% of office and warehouse waste is recycled or used to generate electricity
- Employees from a variety of positions formed the “Environmental Action Team” to further sustainability goals
- 1st electric van for Liberty Wines is now on the roads in the UK.
- Sustainable Restaurant Association member since 2015
- Supports Seawilding: community-led Marine Habitat Restoration in Scotland
- Beehives on the roof of head office to benefit the local ecosystem
Leading by example has provided Liberty Wines with customer and producer respect, with hopes other companies in the global wine industry will follow along. With this level of transparency as a leading wine distributor in the UK, there is hope other companies can mirror this commitment to giving back. With carbon emissions, there are no fruitful vineyards and without a fruitful vineyard, there is no wine.