Zero-waste cocktails make it easy to enjoy a great drink while caring for the planet. With a few thoughtful swaps and eco-friendly tools, you can cut back on waste, save money and create a more sustainable home bar. This guide shares simple ways to reduce your kitchen’s footprint — one delicious sip at a time.
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The ultimate guide to sustainable cocktails
As a child of the 1990s, I watched many an episode of Captain Planet,** so the words “reduce, reuse, recycle” are practically seared into my brain.
Now that I’m a cocktail content creator, I am always keenly aware of how much waste I produce in the kitchen. As often as I can, I try to reduce my footprint by making zero-waste drinks, starting with my cocktail herb garden.
Whether it’s Earth Day or a regular day, here are some of the ways I help reduce waste and support sustainability — and still enjoy a great cocktail. With our powers combined… we can all make small, joyful changes that add up to big impact.
🌱 Earth: Grow and compost your ingredients
Reduce waste by growing anything you can and only using ingredients that are in-season. Compost leftover peels and scraps to give back to the earth.
1. Grow your own cocktail garnishes.
It is easy to grow commonly used cocktail herbs like mint, thyme and basil. I’ve been using this indoor hydroponic garden * for years and it’s amazing to have fresh herbs year-round. If you’d rather buy your herbs, store fresh stems in an herb keeper * in the fridge to extend their life (so you buy them less often) — and always recycle those plastic clamshells!
2. Make drinks with seasonal ingredients.
When you use ingredients at the same time they are being harvested, they taste better and don’t have to travel as far. Snag this seasonal ingredient guide fridge magnet * for your kitchen to plan your grocery list.
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seasonal ingredient guide fridge magnet
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3. Compost leftover peels and scraps.
Give food waste back to the earth — reusing at its very best! You can use a tumbling composter * in your yard to do it yourself, or check this website to find a composting company in your city where you can drop off buckets of food scraps. Some will even collect them at your house!
To make it easy on myself, I use this countertop compost bin * with compostable waste bags * in my kitchen, and then take scraps out every time it gets full.
If you’re in Charlotte, N.C.: Check out Crown Town Compost * and use my link for a free month! In exchange for food scraps, they allocate rich compost for customers to use in their gardens and yard.
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🔥 Fire: Power up with DIY prep
Keep your bar well-stocked with some low-effort planning and prep. Stretching ingredients to use every single part of them makes a huge difference.
4. Save your citrus.
Don’t toss that half of a lemon or lime! And don’t grab the plastic wrap, either. Instead, cover it with one of these handy food huggers *. I have three sets of the round ones (and more for cheese, butter and avocados) and use them daily for covering fruits, veggies and even open cans.
5. Freeze extra ingredients.
I love freezing juices in my Souper Cubes *, which are ice trays designed for freezing leftovers. They have changed everything, and are great for soups and such too. For drinks, use the small ones to freeze an ounce of fresh lemon juice for a future cocktail and the large ones for half a bottle of cranberry juice for a future punch. You can even freeze simple syrup.
6. Extend the life of your produce.
When fruit is just about to go bad, that’s usually when it’s at its most ripe and flavorful — even if it isn’t “pretty” anymore.
- Repurpose: Incorporate fresh produce into syrups for delicious drinks! For example, this strawberry syrup makes an amazing strawberry margarita or mocktail.
- Freeze: Frozen berries can be used in a smoothie or frozen cocktail like this strawberry daiquiri. (And syrups, too!)
- Infuse: Add cut, fresh fruit or herbs to water and enjoy some easy and flavorful infused water. You can also throw fruit in a sangria or infuse spirits like spicy tequila with leftover peppers.
- Dehydrate: Make dehydrated citrus for cocktail garnishes or cocktail infusion kits.
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souper cubes freezer molds set
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🌬️ Wind: Breathe new life into your bar
Reduce disposable waste that ends up polluting the air and environment. Swap single-use plastics for biodegradable or reusable alternatives.
7. Skip the plastic.
It’s tempting to use plastic cups for parties, but you can still avoid doing dishes when you use compostable cups * and paper, bamboo or biodegradable straws * instead. They’re made of plant-based materials, so you can compost them. And if they do wind up in a landfill, they’ll at least turn into dirt!
And while you’re reducing plastic, make sure your reusable bags are easily accessible for grocery trips. If you forget, always opt for paper ones you can recycle. Reusable produce bags * are also a great thing to have for fresh ingredients.
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8. Stop using straws.
A lot of companies have stopped serving straws with to-go drinks. Reusable glass straws * are great for at-home use, but are too fragile to leave the house. But with this collapsible straw *, you can still take a reusable straw on the go. It comes with a carrying case and a cleaning brush so it’s ready for your next visit to the coffee shop.
9. Recycle everything you can.
Another Child Of The ’90s core memory is this PSA about recycling featuring a song to the tune of Aretha Franklin’s Respect, so we recycle everything we can in our house.
Between beer and sparkling water, we drink a lot of canned beverages. This metal can crusher * is great for minimizing trips to the recycling bin outside. It works for plastic bottles too.
Not sure if you can recycle something? Earth911 has a great recycling search database where you can enter your ZIP code and what you want to recycle, and it will help you find a place to properly dispose of it.
💧 Water: Refresh responsibly
Water is one of our most precious resources, and it plays a big role in cocktail-making — from ice to mixers. Choosing reusable tools and making your own ingredients helps reduce water waste and protect this essential element.
10. Bubbles before bottles.
If you love drinking bubble water, it might be time to invest in a sparkling water maker * ro carbonate your own. We have this one and it’s great for DIY sodas or just adding a few bubbles to my water or cocktails. Soda Sense is a company that offers an exchange program for spent CO₂ cartridges.
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11. Make your own mixers.
Reduce waste by not buying things that come in plastic containers. You can easily make many of your go-to drink ingredients at home — and they’ll probably taste a lot better. Try making your own margarita mix with fresh juices or Bloody Mary mix with pantry staples.
You can also brew your own iced tea, cold brew coffee and coffee creamer and more at home. Store everything in reusable containers like mason jars or glass carafes * in the fridge.
❤️ Heart: Drink with intention
Every sustainable choice makes a difference. Share your eco-friendly bar practices and inspire your friends to join in.
12. Consider going spirit-free — sometimes.
Choosing not to drink alcohol, even occasionally, can reduce your environmental impact. Distilling and transporting spirits uses energy, water and packaging — so skipping the booze now and then is a gentle way to care for the planet and your body.
Mocktails and zero-proof spirits are delicious, festive alternatives that everyone can enjoy. You can even make your own zero-proof spirits.
Do you have to do all of these things? Of course not! I’m not perfect either, but every good choice you make for the environment adds up — even the tiniest ones.
In the words of Captain Planet: The power is yours!
*If you don’t know or remember Captain Planet, it was a popular cartoon TV show in the 1990s in which the spirit of the Earth, Gaia (voiced by Whoopi Goldberg), gathers five youth from around the world — called the Planeteers — and gives them elemental rings that can summon Captain Planet, an environmental superhero.
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