About: Our Carbon Footprint
Sustainability - What is it? Webster defines sustain as: to supply with sustenance: nourish: to keep up: prolong: endure. The word today is very subjective particularly when used with agriculture. To us, sustainability is more than a way of farming. It is a way of life. Sustainability is finding that balance between our environment and us. It is finding a way to be able to use the land in a way that will provide for us today and still protect and preserve the land for our kid's future. Keeping our lives sustainable is a constant work in progress and in many ways it is just using common sense like Reduce-Reuse-Recycle and in other ways is using sustainable farming, land and business practices; some of which are listed below.
Our vineyard is cultivated to create a compost of over wintering legumes that add nitrogen to the soil.
Our terraced hillsides are designed to have only a 2% downhill slope with a 2% side slope into the bank. Slopes more than 5% have drainage catch basins. To further prevent erosion in the steep areas, we pre-winter these areas by seeding and spreading rice straw.
We elected to only clear 60% of our land, leaving Giant Redwoods, Douglas Firs and Live Oaks for future generations to enjoy. Today they decrease our carbon footprint by absorbing Carbon Dioxide and releasing Oxygen.
Our water source for agriculture consists of natural springs and a hand dug well (20' deep) with wind power to move the water. Most of our springs are gravity fed into a small pond which we use for irrigating the young vines until they are five years old. Our older vines are dry farmed with roots that reach twenty feet deep into rich volcanic soils.
Our new winery facility is constructed with insulated concrete forms which provide an insulation factor of R-50. Additionally, there was no form work to strip at the end of construction, eliminating the waste of form wood. Our barrel cavern is completely underground, eliminating any need for refrigeration.
We no longer pay for electricity! Our solar panels provide all the energy we require with extra electricity returned to the grid for you to use.
Click here to calculate our carbon footprint from our new solar panels.
To top off our eco-conscious efforts here at Schweiger Vineyards, we even have organic Schweiger logo merchandise available for purchase in our tasting room.
