The New “Green Beer”
Up until recently, the term
“green beer” referred to a beverage rarely seen except on one particular day of
the year: St. Patrick’s Day. However, due to consumer demands for more
eco-friendly products - from the cars we drive to the food and beverages we
consume - the term “green beer” has slowly begun to refer to something else. In
fact, if you mention “green beer” (as long as it isn’t March 17th),
most people will immediately recognize that you’re referring to an alcoholic
beverage produced under environmentally-sustainable conditions, rather than
beer that is actually green in color. So, which beers are green and which
aren’t? Yeah, you can’t tell just by looking anymore. Here are five breweries
that are more than happy to don the color green:
Full Sail Brewing
Co.
Located in Hood River, Oregon,
this brewery only operates 4 days a week for 10 hours a day (Full Sail Brewing
Co., n.d.). You may think this is a ploy by the staff to get a three-day
weekend, but it actually conserves both energy and water. Believe it or not,
compared to other breweries, Full Sail Brewing uses 3 million fewer gallons of
water each year (Brown, n.d.). In addition, they recycle, recycle, and then
recycle some more! For instance, they use 100% recycled paperboard for
packaging (Full Sail Brewing Co., n.d.).
Sierra Nevada
Brewing Co.
Located in Chico, California,
this brewery has taken some major steps to reduce their power consumption.
They’ve installed over 10,000 solar panels that produce 19% of their
electricity and hydrogen fuel cells which produce 48% of their electricity
(Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., n.d.). Think this is all just a way to cut back on
one HUGE electricity bill? Think again! On top of reducing their electricity
consumption, the brewery recycles whenever and wherever possible. In fact,
they’re able to keep a whopping 99.6% of the solid waste their facility
generates from winding up in a landfill (Sierra Nevada Brewing Co., n.d.).
Eel River Brewing
Co.
Located in Fortuna, California,
Eel River was the world’s first certified organic brewery (Eel River Brewing
Co., n.d.). On top of being certified organic, this brewery has made a lot of
strides in sustainability. Their brewing facility in Scotia, California runs
completely on bio-mass renewable energy, which is electricity generated from
waste that would otherwise be tossed in the nearest landfill, become food for
forest fires (ex. scrap lumber), or burned (Eel River Brewing Co., n.d.).
Steam Whistle
Brewery
Located in Toronto, Ontario,
this brewery may be able to help you out if you’re in the mood for some St.
Patrick’s Day beer - the bottle, if not the beer, is actually green by both
definitions of the word. The green bottles of Steam Whistle are made with 30%
more glass which means they can be washed and refilled up to 45 times - about
three times more than the standard brown bottle (Steam Whistle Brewery, n.d.).
You may also notice that their bottles don’t have the traditional paper logo.
Instead, Steam Whistle uses a painted logo on their bottle to conserve trees
and eliminate glue and dyes that can contaminate the water when bottles are
washed (Steam Whistle Brewery, n.d.). It isn’t just the bottle that will have
other breweries green with envy. Steam Whistle uses water from a nearby lake to
regulate the temperature of their facility (Brown, n.d.).
Great Lakes Brewing
Co.
Located in Cleveland, Ohio,
this brewery is also a restaurant and they are looking out for the environment
at every stage of the game. They use all their waste somewhere - either in the
brewery or the restaurant. For example, leftover grain is used in the soil at
their farms where they grow produce and hops (Great Lakes Brewing Co., n.d.).
When the beer is made and it’s time to package it up, the need for green
doesn’t stop. Packaging from the Great Lakes Brewery is 100% recyclable (Brown,
n.d.). When it’s time to ship the beer to thirsty consumers, Great Lakes
Brewery is still thinking about the environment. Their distribution trucks run
on vegetable oil leftover from their restaurant (Brown, n.d.).
There are a lot of breweries
taking steps to make their beer as green as possible. However, depending on
where you live, green beer simply may not be available. What do you do then?
Well, here are some tips to help you protect the environment while enjoying a
beer:
Keg - When possible, choose beer
from a keg (on-tap), rather than a bottle or can. Even after washing the glass
and transporting the beer, a keg still has a lower carbon footprint than cans
or bottles do (green24, 2011). In addition, kegs can be refilled more times than
a bottle.
Hometown advantage - When choosing a beer, pick
one that is locally made. Even if your local brewery doesn’t have all the green
initiatives mentioned in this article, less energy has probably been consumed
in transporting it to you (versus you picking a beer made on the other side of
the country).
Recycle - Okay, it may sound really
obvious, but it’s worth saying again: recycle! Always put your empty cans or
bottles in the recycle bin.
Supply and demand - Ask your local watering hole
for a green beer...and it probably wouldn’t hurt to explain that you’re asking
for an environmentally-sustainable product and aren’t so drunk you think it’s
St. Patricks Day (otherwise they may cut you off). Just remember, if there’s a
demand for the product they’ll start to carry it.
Liquor is quicker - Understand that beer is
typically the least eco-friendly option among liquor, wine, and beer.
Unfortunately, beer requires a whole process of heating, cooling water, and
agriculturally-intensive ingredients like hops (Hudson, 2012). Makes you really
appreciate all the green initiatives those five breweries have put in place,
huh?
Don’t feel too guilty if you
can’t order a beer from one of the breweries mentioned in this article. The
heavyweights have been making some progress in the green arena as well. For
instance, Coors captures 1.5 million gallons of ethanol generated by brewing
beer and sells it to Colorado refineries to be transformed into fuel (The Good
Human, 2010). While the major players may not have yet caught up to the smaller
breweries mentioned here, every little bit helps to protect and sustain our
planet. What’s the best thing about the new green beer? It’s appropriate for
everyday drinking!
About
the Author
RESOURCES
Brown,
E. (n.d.). Organic Beer and Beyond: 10 Eco-Friendly Breweries. Retrieved from http://www.thedailygreen.com/healthy-eating/latest/organic-brewery-0625
Eel
River Brewing Co. (n.d.). Sustainability. Retrieved from http://eelriverbrewing.com/sustainability
Full
Sail Brewing Co. (n.d.). Responsibility. Retrieved from http://www.fullsailbrewing.com/responsibility.cfm
Great
Lakes Brewing Co. (n.d.). Sustainability. Retrieved from: https://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/sustainability/other-sustainability-projects
Green24
(2011). Eco-friendly beer - the green beer lover’s choice. Retrieved from http://www.greenerideal.com/lifestyle/home-and-garden/8961-eco-friendly-beer-green-beer-lovers-choice/
Hudson,
J. (2012). What’s the Most Eco-Friendly Way to Get Drunk? Retrieved from http://www.theatlanticwire.com/business/2012/04/whats-most-eco-friendly-way-get-drunk/50971/
Sierra
Nevada Brewing Co. (n.d.). On Site Power Generation. Retrieved from http://www.sierranevada.com/environment/solar.html
Sierra
Nevada Brewing Co. (n.d.). Recycling. Retrieved from http://www.sierranevada.com/environment/recycling.html
Steam
Whistle Brewery (n.d.). Green Initiatives. Retrieved from http://www.steamwhistle.ca/ourbeer/greenInitiatives.php
The
Good Human (2010). 5 Eco-Friendly Craft Breweries Doing The Right Thing.
Retrieved from http://thegoodhuman.com/2010/08/17/5-eco-friendly-craft-breweries-doing-the-right-thing/
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Elena White is the founder and editor of Life The Green Way, corporate sustainability coordinator at her day job, and a "rurban" wife and mother. Learn more about her here and follow her on Twitter at @Lifethegreenway.
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