News & Events
In an effort to create a logo which reflects the three pillars of sustainability, is easy to place on a bottle and identify by consumers, as well as coordinate with our host organization the BC Wine Grape Council, we’ve developed a new look.
For many years Graham O’Rourke has been a committed member of SWBC, helping to shape the certification program, and a diligent proponent of sustainable viticulture practices.
Interested in learning more about Sustainability Certification for your vineyard and/or winery? Join Sustainable Winegrowing BC for an online information session about the program essentials.
Starting November 2, 2020, earth-friendly vineyards and wineries will take stock of their sustainability efforts and apply for certification, with SWBC Certified wine hitting the shelves as early as spring 2021.
SWBC Certified represents the next generation of global certification standards, adapted to the BC winegrowing industry. The goal is to position BC wineries and growers as sustainability leaders worldwide. Ultimately, success will depend on the cooperative efforts of wineries, grape growers and industry stakeholders working individually and together.
IPM is an integral part of smart agriculture. It is multi-faceted approach that emphasizes long-term prevention of pests (ie. weeds, insects/mites, diseases) or their damage. Relying on diligent pest monitoring, IPM helps growers decide if and how management is needed. When required, the aim is to use economically viable methods with the least possible ecological risk and hazard to people.
“We’ve made some good strides towards our goal of reducing our per case energy consumption by 25% by 2025. We know we’ve still got a long way to go, but we just keep chipping away at it. Sustainability seems to be something that all of our departments are quick to band together on, I think it’s something people feel good about. Besides the obvious environmental benefits, we’ve also been saving a few thousand dollars a year in energy costs by making some pretty simple changes.”
Interested in learning more about SWBC Certified? Join us for an online information session about the program essentials.
Our recent study of 12 wine-growing regions around the world concluded that BC can expect the following economic benefits from sustainability certification:
Given the rapidly changing conditions, the Sustainable Winegrowing BC Certification launch, originally scheduled for April 1, will be put on hold until the fall of 2020. However, on April 1st, SWBC will be offering their new self-assessment tool in the ‘free resources’ section of their web-site, sustainablewinegrowingbc.ca.