| Consumers have gone green - from the type of | | | | How popular is the green wine packaging trend? |
| food they buy to the kinds of cleaning products | | | | It's so popular that Italy's Ministry of Agriculture, |
| they use to clean their homes. | | | | which regulates the country's wine and grape |
| So it's no surprise that wine manufacturers are | | | | industry, now allows its top wine producers to sell |
| following suit with green wine packaging -- | | | | wine in upscale bags-in-box - wine boxes built with |
| environmentally-friendly, recyclable products made | | | | plastic pockets inside of them that first emerged |
| of cardboard, plastic and other sustainable | | | | in France in the 1980s. And Almaden and |
| derivatives -- to store and transport wine. | | | | Inglenook wines announced plans to shift from |
| Are wine bottles out? No, but more wine makers | | | | traditional 3 and 4-liter glass jugs to bags-in-box |
| are developing eco-friendly wine packaging | | | | containers. These two brands alone account for |
| alternatives such as paper wine boxes to mesh | | | | more than 10 million cases, according to industry |
| with customers' green lifestyles. | | | | figures. |
| The Eco-Friendly Shift | | | | Green Wine Packaging Has Its Benefits |
| Eco-friendly wine packaging isn't new; lower-end | | | | Supporters of environmentally-friendly wine |
| wines have been sold in wine cardboard boxes in | | | | packaging tout its benefits. Glass can be recycled, |
| France for decades. | | | | but it is heavier, takes more energy, and is more |
| But upscale wine makers -- who in the past have | | | | expensive to transport than eco-friendly |
| scoffed at storing or shipping containers in | | | | alternatives. And storing and transporting wine in |
| anything other than glass bottles and traditional | | | | more environmentally-friendly wine packaging puts |
| packaging materials -- are now embracing the | | | | less stress on the environment. The newer, |
| trend of green wine packaging | | | | improved packaging allows winemakers to reduce |
| What's changed? | | | | their carbon footprint by as much as 55 percent, |
| Tastes have shifted, at least a bit. Wine lovers | | | | according to California-based Wine Group, which |
| are more open to buying wine in containers other | | | | produces wine in a box. |
| than glass, such as paper-based and plastic | | | | Consider the possible effects on the United |
| cartons. In fact, experts predict that even more | | | | States: |
| wine makers will go lighter in terms of storage -- | | | | If wineries packaged all bottled wines sold in the |
| lighter glass bottles and lighter plastic bottles made | | | | United States in boxes, it would save about 941 |
| from recyclable materials -- in the future. | | | | million tons of glass, according to figures from the |
| And, wineries are increasingly shipping wine in | | | | Wine Group. Carbon emissions would decrease by |
| carriers and shipping trays made of sustainable | | | | 1.5 million tons a year -- the equivalent of taking |
| items such as recycled newspaper, compostable | | | | 250,000 cars off the road. |
| pulp and corrugated materials. | | | | |