At Pit Liquor we spend a lot of time thinking about the best ways to procure, buy, create, sell, pack, ship, and deliver things to customers in a way that is recyclable, sustainable, cost-efficient, and good for our local economy. We believe in 5 core principals.
1) Eliminate waste
We as a manufacturing and pack and ship company could create a lot of waste. Our alcohol could come in disposable plastic bottles or potentially recyclable glass. The products we receive in cardboard is either recycled or is used by a neighboring business to ship their products. Our packing peanuts are compostable. Our excess coconut oil from coconut lime production is used for candles. Any spirit, oil, or herb blend can be re-distilled to create Forage in 2025 or Symphony in 2026, or candles in 2026. In the few cases, when we do receive an item in plastic, metal, or glass we try and reuse the glass or metal to store test products or take to be recycled.
2) Buy Local
If we can procure locally through local vendors with no distributors, middleman, importers, or interim warehousing across the country we do. Transportation is one of the most expensive and difficult things to account for in sustainability. Buying locally is the simplest answer to know where our products come from. If we could we would buy all products this way we would. Currently we buy, Vodka, Whiskey, Rhum, Gin, Wine, Liquors, Beeswax, Lavender, Rosemary, Hops, Labels, Cards, Barrels this way. A great example of our commitment to buying locally is we could save a few $ and buy Vodka or Whiskey from a large distiller distributer in Indiana or Kentucky, but instead purchase it in refillable barrels less than 10 miles away. Local vendors and businesses mutually supporting each other.
3) Buy at the source
What if we cannot buy it locally? Can we make it ourselves? If yes let's do that! As an example, we make all our vanilla extract for Bourbon Vanilla in house. If we cannot make it, we buy it as close to the source as possible. When we buy herbs, essential oils, or extracts we buy from the source or the the importer directly to avoid additional transportation and packaging. Glass is the biggest drag on our ability to buy at the source and without middleman. We eliminated the previous 50ml spray bottle when the production was being outsourced to interior China. Why did we change from the flask shaped 100ml to our current 120ml bottle? It was because we found a lighter 120ml bottle we can purchase directly from the manufacturer in Seattle versus buying from a glass maker in Europe or China.
4) How we ship and who we ship with matters?
While we cannot fix the delays and issues with shipping through any of the 3 major carriers, we can optimize! We met with a representative at USPS, FedEx, and UPS to confirm the best practices in regards to recyclability and sustainability. We use a single pickup from USPS each day because they use the least amount of additional separation and extra transfers of our product. The little amount of single use plastic we do use is a single piece of bubble wrap or bag so that we can continue to ship with the USPS as a packaging safety requirement. The other shipping companies wanted us to wrap our products and or entire boxes in plastic bags significantly increasing our plastic consumption and waste. You will notice in the future that our beloved #0 and #1 padded mailers are being replaced by single boxes, this is a new requirement of all three major carriers to limit damage from package sorters.
Another item in shipping that is so important is the shipping weight. Changing from one box or bottle to another may save 1/2 a pound in weight which is .3kg of CO2 saved with every order! We have changed the size of mailers, boxes, packaging materials all with the goal of lowering the weight of the package, while maintaining protection from our product being damaged in transport. While this may seem like a small thing individually, overall, it makes a large impact if we make the switch for every order.
5) We can always do better
Technology changes and shipping rules change, we can always be looking ahead at how to improve or adjust. We aim to find a bottle that could fit a roller ball or a sprayer and let you the customer decide which to use a roller or a sprayer.
We are working on procuring and then switching to 83% post consumer recycled plastic (PCR) sprayers in 2026. While they are not quite as attractive as our matte black and white sprayers of years past they are threaded and easier to spin on and made of 83% recycled materials. If we can find a 100% recycled option we would test it and then move to it.
That same company offered us a 60ml bottle option in 100% PCR plastic with a 83% recycled sprayer. Honestly, we are on the fence. We like the idea of recycled plastics because they are lightweight, durable, and can be nearly any size, shape, or thread for tops, labels, etc. But all plastic even recycled plastic, which goes through even greater screening and approvals, bears some risk. The science on plastics, especially recycled plastics, is evolving because in 2020 food grade recycled plastic was only feasible in a lab and now its a commercially available product. While we would not plan to switch from glass to recycled plastic entirely, we would want to try a single new size.
What do you think about about 100% PCR plastic? Click here to take quick poll!
Ready to Join the Pit Liquor?
At Pit Liquor, we make every bottle purposefully, using only the best natural ingredients. With just a couple of spritzes, you’ll not only smell incredible but also reap the benefits of thoughtful, skin-loving ingredients.
Still not convinced? Don’t just take our word explore the rest of our excellent products. Visit our website or contact us today at Pit Liquor for more information.
Belly up to the bar—you won’t regret it! Cheers to smelling good, feeling good, and loving your body with natural, non-toxic ingredients!