In partnership with ecoSPIRITS, the world’s first closed loop spirits technology, and Green Steps Group, C02 impact specialists, PENICILLIN offsets the carbon impact of its beverage programs by eliminating single use glass waste and supporting reforestation in the endangered Kalimantan rainforest area in Borneo, Indonesia. The reforestation process begins with the planting of saplings of indigenous trees, which have been grown from seed at on-site nurseries, in an area cleared of invasive jungle vines. This is a tough, labour-intensive process known as silviculture. In the first year, the planting site is revisited every few months to be manually cleared of the vines, which can overwhelm and smother the young trees. Once safely established, however, these future forest giants can sequester CO2 for more than 200 years.
In the PENICILLIN Forest, the principal local tree species planted are Dillenia Borneensis, Octomeles Sumatrana, and Molotus Muticus. Approximately 12 kg of CO2 is sequestered per tree, per year, over an initial 12-year period. Beyond 12 years, the sequestration increases as the trees grow. With life spans averaging 200 years, and with some of the trees such as Octomeles Sumatrana living up to 500 years, the average tree in the 1880 Forest will sequester 2,400 kg of CO2 – or the equivalent of eliminating 4,800 single use glass spirit bottles – over its entire lifespan.
The PENICILLIN Forest is managed by a cooperative of four villages, who share the income from the tree planting. In addition, funds are set aside for village student scholarships and medical emergencies. Prior to COVID-19, the village co-ops relied mainly on ecotourism for funding, but the impact of the pandemic has left the village planting-operation entirely dependent on support from enterprises such as PENICILLIN, ecoSPIRITS, Green Steps Group and their spirit brand partners. Working together, the PENICILLIN Forest initiative is regenerating safe, natural habitat for some of the planet’s most rare and endangered wildlife, while also providing hugely valuable CO2 sequestration.
The PENICILLIN Forest uses Green Steps Group’s proprietary ‘proof of planting’ technology. Every tree planted is verified, monitored, and reported through an industry-leading digital trail.
About Penicillin Hong Kong
Inspired by the farm-to-table movement taking the culinary world by storm, PENICILLIN is Hong Kong’s first sustainable bar that champions a closed-loop model of production. Named after the breakthrough group of antibiotics that heralded an age of medical revolution, PENICILLIN bar similarly brings a revolutionary take on sustainability in today’s waste-heavy world of cocktail creation. The bar’s prized feature, THE PENICILLIN LAB illustrates the behind-the-scenes processes of discovery and experimentation on its path towards minimal-waste.
PENICILLIN bar is founded by bar veterans Agung Prabowo and Roman Ghale (previously The Old Man), Laura Prabowo and Katy Ghale, designed by Betty Ng of COLLECTIVE, bringing the first minimal-waste cocktail list to its historic location on Hollywood Road. With a focus on either locally sourced or up-cycled food and drink ingredients, PENICILLIN’s bar menu finds innovation in the true flavours of Hong Kong – while working constantly to minimize waste and carbon footprint.
About Green Steps Group
Green Steps Group, a Swedish-based technology start-up, provides governance for the tree planting organization and the measurement of the CO2 output of each tree. Using a proprietary platform that combines geo-tagging, camera-traps and satellite multi-spectrum imagery to monitor individual trees, GSG and the on-site research scientists track the overall health of the forest and track the long-term CO2 impact at a per-tree level. Demonstrating how quickly success can be achieved, GSG has been able to document the movements of orangutans sleeping in trees that were planted only a few years ago.
About ecoSPIRITS
ecoSPIRITS is a patent-pending, first-in-the-world technology. Founded in Singapore in 2018 and now available across Asia Pacific, ecoSPIRITS is an innovative closed-loop distribution technology that nearly eliminates packaging waste in premium spirits. Look for ecoSPIRITS at your favourite bars, restaurants and hotels and drink well by drinking green.