Do you know that Hong Kong is home to some of the world's most eco-friendly bars? Sustainable practices go way beyond just a trend - they are a mission for the future. So let's take a look at what these bars are doing right:
1. PENICILLIN
L/G Amber Lodge, 23 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong
Ranked #1 on Asia's 50 Best Sustainable Bar Awards 2021, this extraordinary bar takes inspiration from farm-to-bar concepts and pioneers the first closed-loop cocktail bar in Asia. Going the extra mile, the company has proudly launched an initiative called One Penicillin, One Tree cocktail — A Mallotus Muticus tree is planted in the rainforest of Kalimantan for every drink sold. You're helping save 150g of CO2 emissions with each glass. Cheers to that and bottoms up!
2. ARGO
Four Seasons Hotel, 8 Finance St, Central
Argo nests itself in the Four Seasons Hotel with an impeccable harbour view. Well, it isn't all about the view; actually, it's their "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow" menu — which celebrates six key potentially endangered ingredients that face an uncertain future, including cacao, honey, vanilla, apple, coffee and rice. Taking honey as an example, Argo brings to the table 100% local, raw honey from beehives in Yuen Long and Lantau; "bee-cause" this is a truly eco-friendly, artisan product.
3. DARKSIDE
Rosewood Hong Kong Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, TST
Don't let the name fool you, it's the exact opposite of what it is - it's a decadent and stylishly decorated joint with a very clever name. DarkSide's drink list pays homage to Kowloon's "Dark Side" moniker by bringing together rare age spirits, time-honoured cocktails, and soul-captivating live music. The bar has received acclaim for two consecutive years as one of "Asia's 50 Best Bars" and "World's 50 Best Bars 2021". The company partners with ecoSPIRITS, this closed-loop collaboration system nearly eliminates packaging waste and contributes to the ecoSPIRITS Forest Program initiative. The bar's climate-friendly cocktails are also made with upcycled ingredients that might otherwise have been thrown away.
4. POTATO HEAD
100 Third St, Sai Ying Pun
Bali's famous Potato Head Club brings a tropical vibe to the trendy Sai Ying Pun neighbourhood. With sustainable practises as a key element of its brand identity, the bar's extravagant tropical cocktails are concocted with sustainable practices such as reusing ingredients and repurposing leftovers. Potato Head has banned the use of all plastics and stopped working with suppliers who were not ready to make plastic-free deliveries. What about the trash bags? Fret not, these are all replaced by reusable gunny sacks and kegs. A 100% zero-waste Night Out in Hong Kong.
5. DRAFT LAND
63 Wyndham St, Central
There isn't a bartender prepping your drink from scratch here, it's a unique "cocktails on draft" concept that strips the drink service to its bare essentials — Offering high-quality and affordable specialty cocktails in a fuss-free, convenient and comfortable experience. With sustainable practises as a key element of its brand identity, the cocktails ready from the tap create huge water usage savings and ice production. The bar adopts a "no garnish" policy and uses industrially produced citric acid to substitute lemons and limes in recipes.
| These are some examples of how these bars do what they do to be impartially sustainable - we hope to inspire our readers to rethink their habits that lead to wastage. A long time ago, a gentleman named Paul McCartney said, "there must be a better way to make the things we want, a way that doesn't spoil the sky, or the rain or the land." |
