In a time of hand sanitizer shortages and price gouging, local distilleries can step in to help their communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. With all the necessary equipment to make alcohol on site, distilleries are just a few steps removed from hand sanitizer production. While hand washing with soap is the best way to kill germs, alcohol-based hand sanitizers are a close second.

In Portland, Oregon, Shine Distillery & Grill has been giving away a homemade hand sanitizer to their customers. Across the country, other distilleries have been producing their own hand sanitizers, and plan to keep doing so until their supplies run out, including Old Fourth Distillery and Moonrise Distillery in Georgia. Durham Distillery in North Carolina is making sanitizing solutions for hospitality workers. This trend has picked up outside the U.S. too. In the U.K. and Belgium, several distilleries have also switched from making alcoholic drinks to making disinfectants.