Top Tips for Sustainable Sips!

It’s here! The first edition of Asparagus Tips, our new newsletter of bite-sized sustainable living advice. After this month, only readers who subscribe specifically will get these delicious tips. So if you like the taste of what Sun Woo and Zeahaa are serving, be sure to sign up for seconds! — Jessie

Quench Your Thirst Sustainably

As summer temperatures rise, thirst-quenching moves up our collective list of priorities. Why not sip on these tips for hydrating sustainably?

Bottled bevvy vs. canned carbonation

You’ve been there before, eyes flitting between stacks of sleek metal cans and rows of brown glass bottles. Choice paralysis sets in, sweat beading on your brow. Well, worry no more, because Francesca Fionda found that in the realm of fizzy drink containers, refillable glass bottles are the best overall choice. Glass is more easily reusable, less energy-intensive to create, and generates less plastic pollution compared to aluminum cans and the plastic six-pack rings they usually come with.

H₂O on the go

We can’t talk about plastic pollution without mentioning bottled water. Environmentalist from Hell Sara Bynoe hates it, and will judge you for drinking it if you have easy access to clean drinking water. But what if you’re travelling and don’t have reliable access to potable tap water?

Travel writer Breanna Wilson is a fan of Grayl’s Geopress purifier (C$125). “The bottle filters 24 ounces of water in 8 seconds to meet the US Environmental Protection Agency’s national drinking water standards,” Wilson writes. The Geopress filters with particulate-blocking ceramic fibres, which contain positively charged ions that trap pathogens, and activated carbon that absorbs heavy metals. Portable purifiers like this can help you kick disposable bottles to the curb (only metaphorically, of course).

Celebrate sustainably

When it comes to choosing a vintage, Sun Woo usually goes for what seems most reasonably priced, or whichever bottle would look best with a cut flower in it so he can live out his interior-design Instagram influencer fantasies. But wine’s ecological footprint is worth considering, too.

There aren’t global certifications for wine sustainability, so Rebecca Gao suggests looking for regional certifications, like the ones offered by Sustainable Winegrowing BC. Or seek out Demeter-certified biodynamic wines, which hail from vineyards that use “natural soils, compost, and helpful animals like ducks and horses who [help] create a rich, naturally fertile environment for wine grapes.”

Finally, you can buy as local as possible. More than half of wine’s carbon footprint in North America comes from transportation.

And that wraps up our first serving of Asparagus Tips!

Until we tip again,

Sun Woo Baik and Zeahaa Rehman
Assistant Editors, Asparagus Magazine

p.s. For more beverage-related Asparagus goodness, check out Jessica Johns’ reflections on kombucha-making and treaty relationships.

p.p.s. Don’t forget to sign up to receive future editions of Asparagus Tips!