While examples of individual acts of sustainability are peppered throughout the CocktailGreen website, we wanted to highlight some examples of bars that are/have made systemic efforts at sustainability. 

RE:, Australia

The forthcoming bar from Matt Whiley of Scout bars in London and Sydney is called Re:. They're in the build out stage now (January 2021) and sharing some of the building material they're using, including compostable vacuum bags for infusions, and lampshades made of mushroom material. 

White Lyan, London

This cocktail bar was not only one of the first to take on sustainability in a big way, it still serves as an example of the most radical thinking on sustainability. The bar served cocktails from pre-prepared, pre-chilled and diluted bottles. There were no garnishes and no ice, and not even bottle waste as they distilled alcohol in-house.

• White Lyan cocktail bar brings a refreshing twist to waste and recycling

The Perennial, San Francisco

At this restaurant, food waste was reduced with a complex system of insects and aquaponics, and that's just the beginning. The cocktail program had a special emphasis on saving water - there was no cubed ice machine, all "stirred" drinks were pre-batched, and "shaken" cocktails to be served up were done in blenders so that no ice was leftover in the shaker nor the glass. 

• Nothing Shaken, Nothing Stirred: The Perennial's Strained Relationship with Ice
• How The Perennial Restaurant Was Built, Environment First 
• San Francisco's Climate Restaurant: Test Lab and Social Experiment Too 

Gamsei, Munich

This hyperlocal bar combined traditional preservation techniques with high-tech ones to make the bounty of the seasons last year-round.  "The bartenders forage in the forests and buy stuff at farmers' markets in season and use them fresh or preserve them using old-world techniques like fermentation, syrup-making, kombuchas, drying, etc. as well as new-world techniques like running infusions through the Rotavap so that they never spoil and flash-freezing other ingredients with liquid nitrogen."

• Gamsei, A Hyperlocal Molecular Mixology Bar in Munich

Bulrush, St. Louis

This bar recently put out a no-citrus menu with homemade shrubs, kefir, kombucha and more substituting for the acid component of cocktails. 

• A Citrus-Free Cocktail Menu at Bulrush in St Louis