Welcome to the poor man's liquor cabinet. Definition: the hard-to-reach cupboards over your refrigerator or your stove out of the sighs and minds of your youngest family members. However, as any alcohol connoisseur knows, it's no necessarily where you keep your supply that's important, but the actual contents that matter most. There are a couple of ways you can make your cupboard (or cabinet if you actually have one) a little bit greener.

Organic
Just as is the case with food, consumers have the opportunity to buy almost any type of liquor in an organic option. Wine is the easiest beverage to find in an organic form, as many wineries have chosen to produce this type of vino. There isn't one international across-the-board criteria for producing organic wines, however they are generally wines that use organically-grown grapes, have no added sulfites (though it does not mean they are automatically sulfite-free) and do not use any pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers.

Beer works much the same way. Organic beer is made with organic grains and uses eco-friendly production techniques such as water conservation. Watch out for the labels though: a beer with "Certified Organic" on the label means it not only contains organic ingredients, but was made in a facility that follows certain standards such as cleaning chemicals. Beers that contain "organic ingredients" were not necessarily produced in a facility that follows these guidelines.

Organic spirits are also starting to make an appearance, though the options for this type of alcohol are limited. Wineries and breweries are often smaller operations that follow an organic process or have a less difficult time if they choose to transition. Spirits are more often produced by large companies, making organic production a decision that has to be made with more people involved. The good news is there are still option son the market. Square One produces organic vodka made with 100% organic American rye; 360 Vodka is four times distilled and five times filtered using an energy-efficient process and utilizing every bushes of grain. 4Copas produces what they refer to as the "world's only certified organic tequila," while scotch-lovers will be thrilled with Benromach Organic, the first single malt whiskey to be fully certified by the UK's Soil Association and handmade by just two men at a small distillery.

Local
You can also choose to discover beverages produced locally. Again, this may be difficult with spirits since they tend to be produced by larger companies on a national scale. However local wineries are common, as are breweries. The products may or may not be organic, but they earn their eco-friendly stripes from the fact that they don't have to be shipped from afar to make it into your eager hands. This makes them responsible for fewer greenhouse gas emissions, at least regarding the transportation.

Do some research to find out which wineries and breweries are close to home and sample some of their products. Many beer enthusiasts (also known as beer "snobs") will tell you smaller breweries - also known as micro-breweries - produce better quality beer than some of the more famous national brands.

Offset
Other companies are being innovative in their efforts to offer eco-friendly products. Though they may not be certified organic and still have to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to reach you, their producers say it's still possible they can be earth-conscious. Canadian winemaker Lifford Wine Agency has introduced their plantatree brand, which carries three types of wine - a Cabernet sauvignon, a merlot and a chardonnay. For every bottle of wine purchased, Lifford Wine Agency will plant one tree. The company says this makes the wine carbon neutral so consumers can feel good, not guilty, when they enjoy a glass. Lifford is one of the the two companies that are Gold Member Tree Canada Carbon Neutral Companies.

» Ecollo (The Green Kitchen)