John Paul DeJoria, the founder and owner of Patrón Spirits International, is one of the world's foremost advocates for environmental responsibility, giving countless hours and dollars to help make the world a better place. This commitment extends company-wide into all areas of Patrón's manufacturing, bottling, and packaging, and into Patrón's charitable contribution efforts, and practices within Patrón's corporate offices across the globe.

At the Hacienda del Patrón, nestled in the hillsides of the Jalisco region of Mexico where Patrón tequila is distilled and bottled, the company adheres to strict practices to help limit the environmental impact of production. The tequila production process creates a leftover distillate, or "stillage," byproduct. Rather than discard this, Patrón has developed a reverse osmosis system that recovers 70 percent usable water from the stillage. This recovered water is then used in the facilities' cooling towers, and for cleaning and irrigating the Hacienda's gardens.

The remaining 30 percent stillage is used to treat Patrón's compost area. Tequila of course is distilled from the native blue agave plant, but not every part of this desert succulent is used in the distillation process. Instead of disposing this unused agave as waste, Patrón takes the leftover agave tissue, or "bagasse," and mixes it with the concentrated stillage to create compost. This compost is then used to grow crops in the Hacienda's organic vegetable garden, helping provide food for factory personnel and the community. The compost is also used to fertilize the agave fields and is given free to the town to use in area football fields and other gardens and land areas.

According to CONAGUA (the Mexican federal water authority), and SEMADES (the Jalisco state environmental agency), Patrón is a leader of the tequila industry in implementing efforts to help the environment in Mexico. These practices, along with other measures to reduce waste, clean the air and limit noise, have earned Patrón the ISO 14001 certification for meeting environmental standards at the distillery, as well as Clean Industry Certification from PROFEPA (the Mexican Federal Environmental Protection office).

Patrón's environmentally responsible practices also extend into product packaging. Patrón bottles are created with recycled glass, and the shipping boxes are produced from recycled materials. Patrón has also taken important steps to limit the amount of paper used in packaging its products. Also, for bottles of Patrón tequila destined directly to bars and restaurants, Patrón has eliminated individual boxes for those products, helping to further reduce paper usage and, most importantly, waste.

Of course, these efforts are only one small part of the company's promise to help clean and preserve the environment. Patrón Spirits also actively supports environmental fundraising events and organizations around the world. One such cause that Patrón and John Paul DeJoria have proudly supported over the years is the Waterkeeper Alliance, an international association chaired by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of clean water advocates committed to protecting communities, ecosystems and water quality.

Global corporations such as Patrón Spirits International have an important responsibility to ensure that steps are taken to help preserve and protect the planet for future generations. It's a charge that everyone at Patrón believes very highly in, and the company is committed to continually finding new ways to improve methods, and help fund this vital cause.

The Patrón Spirits Company, together with our founder John Paul DeJoria, is deeply committed to giving back. We are involved with a variety of philanthropic and charitable organizations, working on issues ranging from children's health, hunger, clean water, to the rebuilding of New Orleans. Below are some of the causes and organizations we support. To learn more about the DeJoria family's charitable foundation (JP's Peace Love & Happiness Foundation) visit the Facebook page.

Ultimat, the ultra-premium vodka produced by Patrón Spirits, proudly supports the efforts of Action Against Hunger, a global humanitarian organization committed to ending world hunger. Through fundraising events and the sale of custom-created "I'm Tired of Hunger" bracelets and t-shirts, Ultimat vodka is deeply committed to raising awareness and funding for this very important cause.

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Together with our founder John Paul DeJoria, we support the important efforts of this global environmental organization dedicated to protecting our waterways.

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Through Patrón's global fundraising efforts on behalf of The Smile Train, we've enabled over a thousand cleft lip and palate surgeries for children across the world - giving them the opportunity for a new life.

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Though years have past since the devastating hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, untold numbers of families are still without their homes. In addition to raising much-needed funds to assist the St. Bernard Project's efforts to restore the heavily affected area of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, teams of Patrón Spirits employees regularly donate their time to help rebuild homes in this community.

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Through our sponsorship of the American Le Mans Series Patrón Highcroft Racing team, Patrón is honored to help the "Miles To End Malaria" effort to send anti-malaria mosquito nets to Africa.

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Patrón Spirits has joined with other caring organizations in the duty free and travel retail industry to support Hand in Hand for Haiti, a collective response to the humanitarian crisis in Haiti following the catastrophic earthquake that hit that country in January 2010. The project's goal is to build a hurricane-proof, anti-seismic, sustainable school complex that will offer accessible education from pre-school to secondary school, in Saint-Marc, Haiti, an area of great need.

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