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Prince Charles has been driving under the influence. Spa goers in France are getting sloshed. Greenhouse operators in Niagara are drunk with power. In a manner of speaking, at least.

Wine byproducts and grape pomace (the seeds, pulp and skins left from winemaking) are finding their way into an array of recycling initiatives as producers of red, white and rosé seek out ways to go green.

The Prince of Wales may have outdone them all in the sensationalism department by converting his Aston Martin DB6 to run on clean-burning bioethanol fuel distilled from surplus wine. No joke. The move is part of the peripatetic prince's effort to cut his and the Duchess of Cornwall's carbon footprint 25 per cent by 2018.

It was little more than a symbolic move, of course. The heir to the British throne logs fewer than 500 kilometres a year in the 38-year-old classic sports car, a 21st-birthday gift from the Queen, part of a fleet that includes Jaguars and Range Rovers that run on biodiesel made from cooking oil. But it follows more substantial efforts such as reducing his plane trips and banning fertilizers and pesticides from the organic farm at his Highgrove estate.

A fine symbol it made though, as photos of the gorgeous blue vintage vehicle splashed about the British tabloids this summer and raised the flag for hybrid vehicles everywhere. ("Converted plonk for the Aston Martin steers Charles towards a greener lifestyle," read a headline in The Guardian.) Now all that remains is to paint it British racing green.

It's probably fair to say there are few industries embracing the environmental imperative as quickly and effectively as wine. Around the globe estates are cutting out farm chemicals, installing solar power and converting to lightweight glass, cardboard Tetra Paks and plastic bottles to reduce carbon emissions associated with transport.

For example, next month in an industry first, French company Boisset Family Estates, will fly its Beaujolais Nouveau wines to North America in plastic bottles, saving almost half the total weight associated with shipping. Spas, led by the one at Bordeaux's high-end Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte winery, are turning pomace into rejuvenating skin products, marketed globally under the Caudalie brand.

In Niagara, Vincor Canada is bringing new meaning to the term "greenhouse gas," selling its grape pomace to Vandermeer Greenhouses as a source of methane to run electrical generators.

"We used to have to pay to have it taken to landfill," says Jay Wright, president and chief executive officer of Vincor, which owns the Jackson-Triggs and Inniskillin brands, among others. "Now, Vandermeer is buying it from us."

At its Okanagan Valley operations in Oliver, B.C., Jackson-Triggs reduced its water use by 40 per cent, a savings of $60,000 a year. Water used to wash bottles and grapes, for example, is recaptured and filtered to irrigate vineyards.

Banrock Station, the big Australian brand, has for years been supporting wetland-reclamation projects around the world. Tony Sharley, Banrock Station's manager, told me during his recent trip to British Columbia that the company's investment in Canada alone has reached $1.5-million. "Wetlands, we now understand, are critical sinks for carbon," he said. "If we destroy them, greenhouse gases go back into atmosphere."

The enviro-initiative that hits closest to home with drinkers, of course, is organic viticulture. Fifteen or 20 years ago, organic winemakers were a hippie fringe, turning out flat-tasting wines that rarely seemed as polished or balanced as similarly priced counterparts.

Today, the "organic" mantle is worn with pride, endorsed by such vaunted Burgundy domaines as Leroy, Leflaive and Romanee-Conti.

Those producers aren't touting the health benefits of additive-free wines so much as the virtues of what they call sustainable agriculture, which employ such things as cover crops between vine rows to retain nutrients and keep pests in check, restoring balance to the ecosystem. In turn, they say, the wines themselves are better balanced. Anyone who's sampled a few wines from Leroy, Leflaive or Romanée-Conti could hardly argue.

But one need not have the bank account of a prince (or fertilizer-conglomerate executive) to enjoy a decent organic bottle these days. Variety in the under-$20 category has never been better.

One of the best affordable "organic" wines on the Canadian market right now is Cono Sur Chardonnay 2007 from Chile ($12.95, product No. 61911, available at Vintages stores in Ontario).

I put the term in quotation marks because this wine (look for the one with a bicycle on the label) is produced from vineyards currently converting to organic agriculture. According to the draconian dictates of certification bodies, you can't call grapes "organic" until about three years has passed from the last chemical spray.

Here's is a white that, for all intents and purposes, is organically grown, hailing also from a forward-thinking winery that bills itself as carbon neutral. Look for pure, fresh pineapple-tropical fruit, silky texture with crisp, balancing acidity. Quite amazing for the money.

Also worth the money is Bonterra Syrah 2005 ($19.95, No. 573709; $21.99 in B.C.), made from fully certified organic grapes in California's northern Mendocino County by one of the first U.S. wineries to go chemical-free. A full-bodied red, it oozes a velvety, thick core of dark-skinned fruits, lifted by considerable spice. Great for rich, braised-meat dishes.

Pick of the week

Cono Sur Chardonnay 2007 from Chile ($12.95, product No. 61911, at Vintages in Ontario) is a white that, for all intents and purposes, is organically grown and quite amazing for the money