Distilling amazing spirits sustainably, while reducing food waste - with Will Edge of Greensand Ridge Distillery
Will is the founder of Greensand Ridge Distillery - a distillery with a mission.
He asked, how do you take an energy intensive process like distilling and not only reduce its environmental footprint, but have it make a positive contribution to sustainability? His answer involved use of advanced technology and 100% renewable energy, but also working with local farmers to reduce food waste at the farm gate by fermenting and distilling quality produce that supermarkets won't take.
This conversation covers quite a bit of ground including how such a resouce-intesive process as distilling can be made more sustainable, how Will diverts food suplus from the farm gate to use in his spirits and why the waste is there in the first place. We also talk about Will's journey out of the city and into craft distilling, and why getting past the idea of a traditional retirement was important to make that happen.
The episode has loads of interesting information for anyone interested in sustainable businesses, unusual ways of addressing food waste, or even in starting up a business of their own.
The distillery has a great website and a fantastic instagram page too, both of which I encourage you to have a look at.