Sustainable is Good

360 Vodka

What sets McCormick Distilling's 360 Vodka apart from other premium spirits is the entire brand's identity is based on sustainability.

Branding communications firm Sagon Phior handled 360's brand identity including its graphic and packaging design.  "The concept behind the bottle (85% recycled glass) and logo that adorns it (blown into the glass) is all about sustainability, represented by the idea of things coming full circle or 360 degrees," said Sagon Phior's Darren Tarlow.  "Every aspect of this brand and bottle were created to be as renewable as possible, because renewable things don't end like the finite, they continue indefinitely.  That is a very hopeful and fantastic kind of thought, the exact thought we wanted to imbue in 360," he said.

The 360 degree design philosophy is also apparent in the label which was designed to wrap completely around the bottle, unlike many other brands.  Sagon Phior has worked with New Leaf 100% PCW paper with a number of its clients and brought that option to McCormick Distilling's team for 360's label.  The company liked it and 360's label is made exclusively with New Leaf paper.

360 Vodka World's First Environmentally-friendly Vodka

360 Vodka is billed as the world's first environmentally-friendly vodka.  A title the newcomer to the adult beverage marketplace appears to deserve.

The Missouri-based company uses locally grown grains for the production of 360 Vodka resulting in reduced fossil fuel consumption in transporting raw materials to the distillery.   The company also uses a variety of advanced filtration and drying processes which they claim make their operation highly efficient reducing their overall carbon footprint.

The packaging of 360 Vodka is highly impressive.  Focusing on packaging design as I often do I have to say this company has covered nearly all the bases in terms of making their product packaging eco-friendly.

Their glass bottle is made from 85% recycled glass, 75% of which is post-consumer. 

360 Vodka uses New Leaf Paper products for its labeling, packaging and promotional materials.  The paper is 100% recycled and is printed with water based inks.

Perhaps most innovative is the box their vodka is shipped in.  The shipping box is made of 100% recycled cardboard and is designed to be re-used by consumers.  The box is designed with handles on the sides and can be used for storage, filing, stacking and moving.  I think their box design is ingenious and it shows the company recognizes how often liquor boxes are used for moving and storage by consumers. 

The company goes a step further - they have developed a return program for the bottle closures on the top of their bottles.  Consumers can use a postage-paid return process to send back their bottle closures enabling infinite re-use of them by the company.  In addition 360 Vodka will donate $1 for each closure returned to an environmental cause.

360 Vodka's web site is powered by renewable energy.  Their Vodka is available in the United States.