Mexico's booming tequila and mezcal trade is colliding with rising ecological costs, according to an essay published through The Conversation in late October 2025 and syndicated by Phys.org and Emagazine.com under the headline that gives this story its title.
The piece was written by Brendon Larson of the University of Waterloo, Raymundo Martínez Jiménez of Instituto Politécnico Nacional and Ronda L. Brulotte of the University of New Mexico, with a co-author credit for Diana Pinzón, a forestry engineer and co-founder of Zinacantan Mezcal. The authors timed the piece to Día de Muertos, the Mexican holiday on November 2 when tequila and mezcal consumption typically spikes.
What the authors say is happening to the land
The essay argues that industrial-scale cultivation has replaced diverse ecosystems in Jalisco with single-crop fields of blue agave. In the authors' account, In Jalisco, the region's ecosystems are being destroyed and replaced by a uniform crop that is prone to pest outbreaks, and the manufacturing process itself consumes huge amounts of energy, water and agrochemicals. The authors also contrast who profits from that growth, writing that while some in the tequila industry make lots of money, such as celebrities who have their own brands, those who harvest the crops make significantly less. They further contend that most commercial tequilas taste alike given their uniform source, standard yeast and mechanical production, not to mention added sugars and artificial flavours, a claim made about the industry broadly rather than about any single named producer.
The waste stream behind a bottle
Separate figures point to the scale of tequila's byproducts. Casa Sauza's own account of the industry states that in 2014, approximately 240 thousand tons of bagasse were generated, which is the equivalent of a 20 days waste generation in the metropolitan area in Guadalajara, and that vinasse output that year totaled 1.6 million cubic meters of vinasses, which is equal to the wastewater production by a population of 21,000 individuals during a year. The University of Waterloo essay adds an energy comparison, stating that production of one bottle requires the equivalent of about five litres of gasoline, and that while this may be less carbon than tequila, it's more than beer and wine, referring to mezcal by comparison. A separate life-cycle analysis published in the journal Sustainable Development in 2025 calculated that a 700 mL bottle of reposado tequila aged six months generates 2.27 kg of CO2 eq, an impact comparable to other spirits, with bottling, distillation, cooking and agave farming identified as the most impactful stages.
Mezcal's parallel expansion in Oaxaca
The essay's warnings extend to mezcal, whose U.S. popularity has driven a production surge documented separately by public radio station WLRN. Mexican output of mezcal climbed from about 1 million liters in 2010 to more than 11 million liters in 2024, according to COMERCAM, the country's mezcal regulatory body. WLRN reported that along the road to communities like San Luis del Rio, where celebrity brands such as Dos Hombres, created by actors Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul from the hit series Breaking Bad, are made, agave plantations now blanket hillsides that were once forest. The Conversation essay raises a related concern about mezcal's Denomination of Origin certification, noting that while this geographic indicator was ostensibly intended to protect small producers, evidence suggests they're struggling to meet its standards and cost while power and profits concentrate elsewhere.
What the authors recommend
The essay closes with a consumer-facing suggestion rather than a policy demand. It advises that if you are celebrating this Día de Muertos with mezcal, consider buying from a collaborative that still relies on traditional practices, caring for agave and the land by leaving some flowers for the bats, replanting, reducing chemical use and recycling waste. The authors also frame consumption itself as part of the problem, writing that growing human consumption is at the root of unsustainability, which just adds to the reasons to moderate one's drinking.
What this means
The essay is an academic opinion piece rather than a regulatory finding or an audit of any named producer, and it does not specify which brands rely on tahona-and-open-fermentation methods versus fully mechanized production, a distinction that matters more to a bottle's footprint than its category label. That gap, between broad industry claims and brand-level verification, is where the next round of reporting on agave sustainability will need to focus.