Imbibe with a purpose. Eco-minded Proud Pour offers oyster lovers a way to give back to the oceans via a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. Founder Berlin Kelly may be a California girl at heart but she took to the oyster-eating ways of the East Coast and set out to connect the wine-and-dine industry back to the environment. “Most people I know spend their discretionary money on eating and drinking. Why isn’t there a company that does something for the world? Like a TOMS shoes of the alcohol world?” Kelly wanted to get diners and drinkers invested in the environmental work happening in their own backyards—or, more accurately, harbors. In New York and Boston, Kelly and co-CEO Brian Thurber bring their Cheers to Change mission to the waterfront with The Oyster wine.

The Oyster got its sea legs thanks to a screening of the documentary Shell Shocked: Saving Oysters to Save Ourselves. The movie helped Kelly clarify her cause: “It was like, Oh, a wine designed to pair with farmed oysters that will rebuild the wild oysters. New York Harbor once housed half the world’s oysters. I don’t know that; my friends don’t know that. Why don’t we know that? Because we’re out drinking every night.” In each state that the wine is available, Proud Pour partners with environmental groups working to support the bivalve eco-systems. When they’re not on the half-shell, oysters are working hard to clean the waters around them, providing habitats for fish and more. When they are on the half-shell, they’re a tasty complement to the Sauvignon Blanc that Proud Pour sources from a sustainable vineyard in California.

Proceeds from The Oyster sales in Massachusetts go to the Massachusetts Oyster Project, putting 100 once-native oysters back in the ocean per bottle. “This is an environmental education company,” says Thurber, whose background includes work with Clean Water Action in Boston. “Oysters are not cute—it’s not a panda bear—but they’re doing amazing work for us and we’re letting people know about that and arming them to talk about why the environment matters.” Besides assisting underfunded restoration projects, Proud Pour also collects oyster shells from restaurants in the area, saving them from the landfill. The recycled shells go back into the water and act as the foundation for new oyster reefs. Kelly hopes to educate enough consumers on the importance of oysters to the oceans so that “if legislation comes through and shuts things like the Clean Water Act down, people on the ground will be protesting.”

As for thoughts beyond the sea, Proud Pour continues to plan for ways to support “the ecosystem engineers, the keystone species that can change the way things are trending,” says Kelly. “Like, a mead to save the honeybee, a whiskey for the wolf.” If you want to get involved, the quickest (and most delicious way) is to pair your bivalves with The Oyster. The lively white wine is a natural match for all manner of seafood, especially the East Coast’s cold water oysters. Bottles are on the shelves at spots like The Urban Grape, Bee’s Knees, Charles Street Liquors and more, so you can give back to the local oceans with every glass.