Greetings and welcome to my blog (although I do hate the word. Hopefully I will come up with something better in the course of this project)! Part Senior Thesis for Dominican University, part instruction manual on how to green a winery, and part my thoughts and feeling on the whole Sustainability Movement, not only within the wine industry, but business in general. In no way do I pretend that I am expert in sustainability/green issues. My opinions and experiences are my own and, of course, will differ from everyone else's. But I hope that I can, at the very least, gently nudge people in choosing a greener/more sustainable business and lifestyle.
I currently work at Michael Mondavi Family Estate (formerly Folio Winemakers' Studio).
While there are many wineries that have achieved Green/Sustainable/Biodynamic status, there is a absence of aggregation of information on how to start the process. I hope that this blog will be a jumping off point for all of you who hope to take that next, and very understandably scary, step towards a greener future.
I would also like to stress that Business/Profit Making can go hand and hand with being Green/Sustainable. In the past, the two many have been diametrically opposed, a war of titans of industry vs. hippies and societal drop-outs. Yet thanks to pioneers such as Ray Anderson, Patagonia, B Corporation, and, perhaps shockingly, Walmart, the two beliefs now have common ground. Hopefully, one day, this will be the norm and not the exception. It is a long road to becoming green, but every small step is meaningful and profound, a journey and not a race. It would be nice to go from 0 to 100% sustainable overnight. Yet the reality is this will never happen (as much as I would love for it too). Environmentalists must realize that companies that make those small, initial steps are hopefully working towards giant leaps. Yes you can argue that this is nothing but "Greenwashing" (even Exxon-Mobil claims they are a sustainable), but we should be welcoming and acknowledging these small steps as a paradigm shift in thinking, that even the worst polluters realize the need to change the way they do business.
Again I digress. What I hope to achieve is Napa Green Winery and CCOF certification at the very least, and hope for Biodynamic Certification, Carbon and Water Neutrality, and Zero Waste production at the very best. Since the Studio is a Custom Crush Facility, I hope to also pioneer a new project with Napa Green Winery to certify all the wineries who Custom Crush on-site.
My next few posts will be covering what Napa Green Winery and CCOF Certification entail, defining Biodynamic, Carbon and Water Neutrality, and Zero Waste. And I will always have links to resources and blogs if you want to branch out on your own, which I highly encourage.
This blog is dynamic and will grow along with me on this journey. Please feel free to comment or point me in new directions, offer new information, or even refute/disagree with what I say and write. I want this to be an open forum that welcomes the "kool-aid drinkers" along with the naysayers and deniers.
Cheers,
Jeremy
