Winesmiths announced that $25,000 has been raised for the Australian Koala Foundation through the sale of specially marked Winesmiths Dry Rosé and Cabernet Sauvignon packs over the recent summer period.

“With a focus on sustainability and in the spirit of our ‘Sacrifice Nothing’ ethos, we wanted to prompt consumers to think about their wine choice and their impact on the environment,” said Winesmiths senior brand manager Lisa Antoney.

“The Australian Koala Foundation really looks at changing the relationship people have with nature. Conservation efforts not only benefit Koalas, but our population as a whole.

“At Winesmiths, we are constantly looking for ways to reduce our impact on the environment. By packing wine into two litre soft packs instead of glass, we save approximately 1.8 million metric tonnes of emissions each year.”

“We recycle 100% of our wastewater for re-use on our vineyards, which equates to around eight Olympic pools of water saved each year.”

Chair of the Australian Koala Foundation Deborah Tabart OAM said this money would go towards their newly announced Koala Kiss Project.

“The project outlines an ultimate vision of the ‘Great Koala Trail’: approximately 2,543 kilometres of uninterrupted conservation and prime koala habitat from Cairns to Melbourne, connected at ‘kiss points’,” she said.

“Kiss points are the points where intact sections of koala habitat come close to each other, but remain separated by divisions of cleared land.

“If we achieve contiguous habitat, then all creatures great and small could traverse through the bush unthreatened. Humans could walk under this trail of gum trees with koalas happily in the branches overhead.

“Funding for projects is always important, but having our message spread to wine lovers around Australia will enable more people to think about the conservation of the Koala and some of the bigger issues, like deforestation and water management.”

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