Our environment is the most important thing we have, without it there is no Spy Valley Wines. In March 2010 Spy Valley became ISO 14001 certified, an international environmental standard.
One of the initiatives we undertook to gain this certification was importing a glass crushing machine to recycle and crush the company's glass to a fine glass dust. This is then mixed with mulch and distributed below the grapevines to enhance light reflection into the vines.
We are continually looking at ways we can reduce waste. We have moved from using diatomaceous earth as a filtering aid, to using a product called Perlite. Unlike earth, this product can be tipped directly into the grape marc which is then used in organic mulch and supplementary farm feed. This reduces our landfill input by eliminating the need for skips for the waste earth.
Our winery wastewater is treated onsite and pumped over the winery lawn.
Our waste plastic is baled onsite and sent to Christchurch for recycling, as is our waste cardboard. We are also active members of TerraNova - a non-profit organisation which links one company's waste to another who might have a use for it eg. old pallets.
This ISO 14001 policy provides the basis for everything we do at Spy Valley so we continue to improve our sustainable practices, reduce waste and protect our environment.
