Sustainability
At Dancing Sands we owe a great deal of our success to the high quality botanicals we use and pristine water we blend our spirits with. We feel a responsibility to ensure that the integrity of the water and land that surrounds our distillery is kept in pristine condition for future generations to love and enjoy. We are committed to operating our business in a way that sees us protecting our environment, and avoids damaging it. We are on a mission to divert as much of our waste from landfills as possible.
We’re far from perfect. We will continue to put sustainable business at the forefront of how we do things.
Our Bottles
Made in New Zealand from Recycled Glass
In March 2023 we became the first New Zealand Distillery to move our bottle production from Europe to a manufacturer in New Zealand. By eliminating the need for sea freight from our production cycle, we reduced our carbon footprint by 15 000 kg of carbon emissions each year. This is the energy equivalent of charging a smartphone 1.8 million times.
Our bottles are made by Visy Glass in Auckland, from 49% recycled glass which comes from Auckland’s curbside glass recycling scheme. The New Zealand Glass Packaging Forum estimates that “…approximately one tonne of CO2 is reduced for every six tonnes of recycled container glass used in the manufacturing process.”
You may notice that every bottle of Dancing Sands’ spirits are not exactly the same colour. This is because our bottles are made from transition glass. When the manufacturing plant transitions from making one glass colour to another (in our case from blue to clear flint glass) they have to run the molten glass plant through the plant until all the previous colour is flushed out. The glass made in between colours is known as transition glass, and if not used is then discarded. Most brands won’t use transition glass because of the inconsistencies in colour, but we think it’s special that each bottle is unique, and we’re using something that could otherwise be wasted.
Our Labels, Boxes and Corks
Where possible we’ve transitioned to more sustainable packaging options across our products:
- Our labels are printed onto Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) Chain of Custody certified stock which contains 30% post consumer waster and is Green Seal certified.
- All of our shipping boxes can be home composted or recycled and are printed with water based inks.
- Our 700ml gift boxes for Dry Gin and Lazy Days Lychee, and our blue double 700ml gift box are fully recyclable.
- Our Corks featuring a sun motif etched into the top are made from real cork and natural wood, with no varnish or sealant applied so they can be home composted.
Made from Gin
To ensure we are getting the most out of all our raw materials we divert some waste into other products.
- Our Gin Jam produced locally by Nelson Naturally using the candied strawberry and rhubarb mixture leftover from producing our Sun Kissed Gin.
- We have a Gin Wash soap produced in partnership with local soap manufacturers Global Soap. This reuses the botanicals and wash left over from in our distillation process and gives them a new life as a bar of soap.
By partnering with local Nelson businesses we ensure that our carbon emissions on these products are minimised, as the transport necessary is reduced.
Renewable Electricity
We use Ecotricity to ensure that all the power we use in the Distillery comes from renewable sources including wind, hydro and solar. Ecotricity are the only certified carbon positive electricity supplier in New Zealand.
