John Kluge, a Virginia philanthropist and entrepreneur, got caught up in his farm during the 19th pandemic. Over the past few years, he has become increasingly out of nature – he is not alone. According to a recent study, the link between man and nature has dropped by more than 60% over the past two decades. Thistlerock Mead Company starts from this revelation. It was launched last year by Kluge to become the first net zero meadow in the United States and rely on regenerative agriculture and beekeeping to produce its honey wines. Everything about Thistlerock is sustainable, from its ingredients sourced to solar power to 100% post-consumer recycled glass bottles.
Kluge not only created Thistlerock to help consumers rebuild their connections to nature, but also showed the wider beverage industry that their industry is mature and has an opportunity to meet biodiversity challenges. He told the observer: “We rarely – we can’t do it ourselves.”
To this end, Thistlerock teamed up with Bee:Wild, a division of the organization created by Wild, Leonardo DiCaprio, with the mission of bringing other beverage companies into that front. A new effort proposed by the group today (September 24) will focus on forming a coalition of companies composed of shared goals that include mobilizing about 5 million pollinator-friendly actions, protecting 1 million acres of rainforest and generating $10 million in conservation funds.
Announce the urgent time for pollinators. Researchers at Washington State University say the U.S. bee colonies are expected to decrease by as much as 70% this year, compared with previous annual losses of 40% to 50%. They attribute the losses to factors such as nutritional deficiencies, viral diseases and pesticide exposure. Despite threats to its sustainability, pollinators remain an integral part of the world’s food supply and are responsible for three-quarters of food crops and 90% of all flowering plants.
One bag strategy
As part of the program, Klogue is working with other members of the Virginia Mead Guild to help them source honey. Meaderies’ efforts will include incorporating indigenous honey from the Amazon community into fermented different styles of honey wine. A percentage of the proceeds of such products will be designated as reinvestment into the Bee:Wild campaign.
This is not just a beverage company that signed a partnership alliance, but a dozen players in the fields of fashion and beauty. Most of them incorporate pollen products into their business models. Other members who do not work directly with pollinators are taking a more creative approach to achieving partnerships. For example, Dubai Airport will focus on providing biodiversity-friendly messaging over 90 million travelers passing annually, while AI startup G42 plans to use mapping tools that can indicate climate stress to users. “They came from different aspects,” Bee: Wild’s executive director Eva Kruse told Observer.
Bee: Wild expects a bag of mixed strategies to achieve the goals of accomplices to enhance pollinator conservation, biodiversity and conservation. According to Kruger, signing a petition that advocates for pollination rights could be a strategy to work with local agencies to re-enact the wild garden space or encourage lawmakers to designate the city as a member of the U.S. Bee City, a commitment to support local pollinators.
“Hopefully progress builds progress, we will inspire each other to do more work together on behalf of our pollinators,” Klogue said. “Your morning coffee, the apples you pack for your kids’ lunch, the cocktails you enjoy at night – these are things that rely on pollination and bees, and we take it for granted.”
