Environmental Stewardship
Our company’s connection to land and water underlies our commitment to protecting, preserving, and enhancing the natural world, while also growing our business. For decades, we have implemented programs and practices that reduce our impact on the environment. These efforts are spearheaded by the Environmental Performance Department and our Environment Matters Working Group, a cross-functional group of employees dedicated to executing programs, monitoring performance, influencing business partners, and engaging stakeholders on key environmental issues and opportunities.
Recognizing that additional commitments beyond compliance serve to protect environmental resources, as well as provide financial and social benefits, Brown-Forman focuses its environmental stewardship activities in three major areas:
- Energy and Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Management;
- Water Quality and Conservation; and
- Waste Minimization and Materials Selection.
At Brown-Forman, we define environmental performance as the integration of both compliance and stewardship activities. To ensure compliance obligations are met, we perform annual audits of our U.S. and Canada operations, and conduct periodic assessments utilizing external and internal expertise. As we acquire international operations, we integrate them into our compliance and stewardship programs.
Energy & Greenhouse Gas Management
As a part of our ongoing commitment to energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) management, we have continued to inventory our facilities and operations to determine our GHG emissions and the sources of these emissions. Our greenhouse gas inventory continues to direct our efforts to prioritize our actions and reduce our energy consumption.
Read more about Brown-Forman’s Energy & Greenhouse Gas Management practices.
Water Quality & Conservation
Water is the largest ingredient in our products by volume. To ensure that our water is used in the most efficient manner, we are setting facility-level and corporate targets, and tracking water and wastewater usage.
Read more about Brown-Forman’s Water Quality & Conservation practices.
Waste Minimization & Material Selection
Our work in sustainably managing materials means selecting environmentally-preferable materials, creating the least amount of waste possible, and reusing and recycling our waste.
Read more about Brown-Forman’s Waste Minimization and Materials Selection practices.
Agriculture
The roots of our company and our brands are agriculturally based, as the ingredients to make our brands come from farms, vineyards, and forests.
Read more about Brown-Forman’s Agriculture practices.