Sustainability

Winner - "Most Sustainable Business" Manaakitanga Awards 2009 

Winner - Ministry for the Environment "Green Ribbon" Award - Sustainable Business. 

We make our living from the land. Ours is a fragile environment and one that must be cared for and preserved for the generations that follow. We have made a commitment to not only one day leave the land that is Ascension the way we found it, but to leave it better!

Environmentally Responsible Waste Disposal
It is necessary for us to dispose of the waste generated by food preparation, wine making, and thousands of visitors. In simple terms, the waste travels by gravity through a system of underground concrete chambers.

The first are inhabited by millions of worms, which break down any solids. The worm castings are periodically taken for gardens, while the liquid produced then travels through other clarifying chambers. Over time most particles settle to the bottom by gravity and are removed every couple of years.

The water, which by then is of very good quality, emerges through subsurface irrigation lines into Ascension's wetland evapo-transpiration field for secondary treatment.

This wetland was developed by taking a virtually "dead" piece of land in a corner of the property and, following extensive mulching and composting, over 6,000 mainly New Zealand native plants were planted. The species are largely sedges, rushes, cabbage trees, flaxes, manuka, kahikatea, reinga lilly and hebes.

These wetland plants absorb the water from the irrigation lines and transpire it naturally into the atmosphere. The plants also absorb nitrates and phosphates, which are undesirable in our rivers and streams.

Any water not transpired filters through the soil, where the soil bacteria destroy any remaining waste bacteria, to a pond planted with reeds. This water gradually leaves the property in a highly pure state, joining the area's natural watercourses.

This system is the first of its type in New Zealand and has been touted by many as the "model" of how to dispose of large amounts of waste in an environmentally responsible manner. We have processed several million litres of waste under the auspices of the Auckland Regional Council, with no negative effects on the environment!

In fact the plants have become quite dense and birdlife is returning to a place where before there was none. At night time we can hear the croak of frogs, creatures that are exceptionally sensitive to water quality.

Recycling
We recycle as much as possible at Ascension...

• We use almost exclusively recyclable packaging.
• Our glass bottles are returned to ACI glass to once again become wine bottles.
• Our milk and soft drink bottles are recycled for more plastic.
• We often use our wine cartons more than once before they are recycled along with other cardboard packaging.
• Our food scraps either become chicken or worm feed, or compost.
• We even recycle carbon dioxide! The wine industry is a "net user" of CO2 as grapevines consume more CO2 than is given off during fermentation.

Organics
Finally, in the vineyard we do our best to use only organically approved compounds of copper and sulphur where we can. There are inevitably times when we need to use alternatives, but these we try to keep to an absolute minimum. We reduce disease, and therefore the need to spray, by such things as burning our winter prunings and leaf plucking by hand around the bunches of grapes in summer.

Our environment looks after us, and we are determined to look after it. We urge you to do the same.

Sustainability Photos
See our our Photo Gallery page for more photos.

Darryl & Bridget with Dr Lockwood Smith at Parliament after winning
the Green Ribbon Award for Sustainable Business.

Wetland planting at Ascension Wine Estate.