LOS ANGELES, April 2, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Southern California-based Modern Spirits today announced its national Drink It, Plant It campaign to plant 25,000 trees in the American rainforests this spring. In celebration of Earth Day and Arbor Day, Modern Spirits will go beyond its regular commitment to plant a tree for every bottle of TRU, the company's eco-organic vodka line. This April and May, the company will plant a tree for every TRU Organic Vodka cocktail served -- eight trees per bottle -- with participating restaurants and bars in California, New York, New Jersey, Florida and Arizona.
"With Drink It, Plant It, we not only want to help renew nature, but serve as an example for 25,000 consumers to take their own steps to help protect the environment," says company co-founder and TRU maker Melkon Khosrovian.
Modern Spirits will fulfill its tree planting commitment through a partnership with Sustainable Harvest International, which helps Central American families plant trees that will truly make a difference on their farms, providing shade for crops, like coffee and cacao, creating barriers for soil erosion or protecting a local streambed. Previously, many of these farmers practiced slash-and-burn farming that significantly depleted the rain forests.
About TRU
TRU is created and bottled by Los Angeles-based Modern Spirits, the acclaimed artisan vodka maker. The vodkas are distilled through state-of-the art column stills that produce the purest spirits possible in only one pass, saving energy. The vodka is then filtered through activated charcoal, the most efficient filtering medium and combined with vapor-distilled water -- the kind nature makes with clouds. Like everything at Modern Spirits, only real ingredients (no extracts) and hands-on techniques like zesting, slicing (and tasting) go into making the vodkas.
The packaging:
* At 620 grams, TRU bottles use 25% less glass than the average high-end spirits bottle. * Labels are printed on tree-free corn fiber using soy-based inks and water-based top coats. * TRU incorporates new, more easily recyclable PETG shrink capsules (vs. PVC). * Recyclable synthetic corks provide a tight seal and don't break when the vodkas are frozen. * Shipping boxes incorporate 35% post-consumer waste and simply fold in on themselves to eliminate packing tape. * Marketing materials go on tree-free or recycled stock using vegetable inks whenever possible.
And our commitment:
Going further, the company plants a tree for every bottle of TRU purchased to protect the environment and have sustainable sources in managed forests for paper products. Working with organizations like Sustainable Harvest International, Modern Spirits plants new trees in tropical zones (where they are cut down in the greatest numbers) to pass on a better planet to the next generation.
TRU will be available April 1 in six states (Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, New Jersey and New York), with additional markets to follow in the spring and summer. Suggested retail price is $34.99 for 750ml. More information, including seasonal organic cocktail recipes, is available at TRUvodka.com.