If It Works, Keep It!
Nov 11, 2024
Introducing the Padstow Distilling Refill Pouch
We have, for a long time, been keen to improve our environmental interaction. It's not enough just to enjoy the beauty of the place; we have to look after it too—but it's really very tricky. Running a distillery involves heating, cooling, glass, and water, none of which do much but contribute to our environmental footprint.
Since we began distilling in 2019, we’ve recycled all our cardboard—not by simply filling up a recycling bin each week, but through in house-recycling. Some of our distilling boxes bear scars from 2020 and have endured around 50 cycles. It’s a small practice with a cumulative impact.
In business, most people require pristine, new boxes, but not us. We can reuse, reuse, and reuse again. And that is our mantra, "If it works, keep it!"
Batch #003 of Padstow Gin ‘St George’s Well’ was packed in this box in 2021. Now it holds #047—just part of the journey of our spirit.
Likewise, our glass bottles: we have always refilled our bar bottles and offered refills to our clients at a discount. Hundreds of glass bottles have been recycled in this way—not crushed, but truly reused. They are cleaned, sanitised, and polished repeatedly, and they continue to look stunning.
The impact is small but cumulative. Every bottle that is reused, cleaned, and polished adds another layer to a more sustainable future.
However, the time has come to consider the cost—what holds the real value: the glass or the polished liquids they contain? Glass is expensive, but we believe that by working together, we can reduce this cost and pass genuine savings back to those who support our cause, all while preserving the unique quality of what we do.
So, What Is This All About?
For those near our distillery bar at 17 Duke Street, Padstow, the option to bring in used bottles for refills has always been available. But as of today (11.11.24), we’re introducing refillable pouches via post, allowing you to refill your previous bottle in a click of a button, or two.
Our durable pouches featuring our distinctive turquoise band, inspired by the Camel Estuary Trail—a theme we’ve embraced since launching our inaugural Padstow Gin, “St George’s Well,” in 2019.
So greener incentives will be as follows – we are using our original gin, St George's Well as a guide:-
Online & in-store |
|
| New 70cl bottle £48 | 70cl Refill Pouch £42 (saving £6) |
In-store only |
|
| Refilled 70cl bottle £42 (saving £6) | Your own bottle refilled £40 (saving £8) |
The benefits of choosing a refill pouch over a fresh bottle may be minimal, but all make a difference, an improvement in current practice
Gin available in this way will be our core range:- Padstow Original, Padstow Rose and Padstow Navy - and our Padstow Vodka (although 57% alcohol is too strong for the refill pouches, so our Navy Gin will be in new and refilled bottles only).
Rest assured, we aren't changing the drive for perfection in our lovely spirits, but we are marking a change our environmental perspective, a gentle nudge that can only be in the right direction. I hope our new incentives might encourage the same.
