Vintage Roots Ltd exists to supply and promote the benefits of organic wines and its other organic drinks ranges. Since 1986 we have traded solely in wines that we believe are of the highest authentic quality, originating from low impact producers that actively sustain and enrich their environments.

We recognise that in the very running of our business, we have some adverse impacts on the environment, and that we too must be responsible for reducing our impact.

Vintage Roots Ltd maintains an office and warehouse, and employs around fifteen staff. We run four delivery vehicles, a fork lift and use packaging and supplies as well as needing to travel both within the UK and internationally. We are responsible for the importation of a range of wines from around the world.

• Continue to trade solely with certified organic suppliers, and encourage sound environmental performance across their products, goods and services.
• Develop our offering of Fairtrade organic wines & beverages.
• Where possible use other ethical and green suppliers for all our business needs, from ‘banking’ to ‘boiling the kettle’.
• Minimise our carbon footprint and offset the rest.
• Maintain Vintage Roots Ltd as a carbon neutral company with a DEFRA recognised supplier.
• Offset carbon emissions against all our wine imports worldwide using accredited schemes, where possible in developing countries.
• Raise awareness of environmental issues among our team, and guide and encourage them to pursue best practice.
• Employ sound waste management practises, including compliance with the requirements of the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) regulations. All cardboard, paper, and glass is segregated and sent for recycling.
• Regularly review and look to continually improve our environmental performance.
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• Upgrade our vans and investigate Biodiesel opportunity
• Save electricity – use review services of Carbon Clear
• Increase and improve on our 84% recycling rates, which are already nearly twice that of the national average.
• Review our suppliers for print and paper
• Sell more organic wine!
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In our market sector, we’ve recently heard increasing talk and concern over ‘wine miles’ – i.e. how far a wine travels from producer to consumer and its associated affect on the environment. Though this is hugely relevant for unnecessary foods that get flown in from around the world, we have often considered that the impact for wine (which always travels by either road or sea) could not be a simple case of distance comparison. Hence a few months ago ‘Vintage Roots’ commissioned a study to reveal the true carbon footprint of all its wine imports, using a specialist leading carbon company called Carbon Clear. The results were very interesting and show that a longer distance travelled by ship is not as damaging as lots of shorter trips by lorry or truck. Buying a bottle of wine shipped from Chile or South Africa generates a smaller carbon footprint than a wine driven from Sicily or Portugal.

Carbon offsetting is a way of compensating for the emissions produced with an equivalent carbon saving. Carbon offsetting involves calculating emissions and then purchasing ‘credits’ from emission reduction projects. Carbon offsetting is NOT a cure for climate change, however we believe that it helps raise awareness of the issues.