Drinking to Save the World

It's January in the UK and it's bitter outside, and for some of us bitter inside, or a glass of wine, or rum and juice...

While you're warming the cockles with your favourite tipple, consider these tips for environment-friendly partying:


 * How far did your beer travel to get to you? Even if it was made nearby, did it travel for miles by lorry to be put in to barrels? Try asking your publicans and see if they know which beer travelled least far. Just by asking you'll have given them pause for thought.
 * If you like to drink wine, get over your favouritism for bottles which have natural corks - cork woodlands in Spain and Portugal are being destroyed all the time to make these, and when the cork has all been used up the woodland that remains is turned in to flatland for intensive farming. All the woodland creatures are rendered homeless. Come on, who's going to mention sour grapes first?
 * This one's easy: recycle your bottles and cans. Surely everyone's doing this already... no? You know who you are!
 * Try organic wine and beer - reduce the amount of pesticide and fertiliser in the rivers near the barley fields and the vineyards, and reduce the amount of pesticide and fertiliser in you! Don't forget to write in to tell us exactly how much you were able to drink without a hangover as well. No, really, we'd all love to hear about it.
 * Make your own beer at home maybe? Just for a change - try Brew Your Own.com for details.[www.byo.com]

Cheers!