Sustainability only a pint away
March 9, 2009
Yes, baseball is America’s pastime, but college has had its own infamous vice since the days of Jim Belushi. And while its past responsibilities may have included little more than finding a non-greenhorn to tap the keg, today’s college students simply demand more-namely in the field of activism.
This is not just any awareness, of course, but rather environmental awareness. What better place could student activism and binge drinking meet than in the unknown realm of eco-friendly beer?
“Green”beer? And we’re not talking St. Patty’s Day. We’re talking a multi-billion dollar industry focused on reducing beer development’s CO2 emissions.
We already have a company willing to take the idea to the extreme. British beer manufacturer Adnams has developed the world’s first carbon-neutral beer, achieved by such measures as a new, lightweight bottle and energy-efficient brew house.
Unfortunately for American admirers, ordering the beer would offset its eco-friendly standing because of the energy and emissions that would have to be used to ship it to the U.S.
Though there is hope American beer greenies! “Green” American beer may not be far behind. In fact, the revolution has already begun.
Of course, at the risk of dangling out an obscure beer company in the newly-emerging world of “green” beer, one major brewery has taken the suggestion seriously enough to pull out the pie charts to show that mainstream alcohol can keep up with the eco-rush. New Belgium, the creator of such high-end beverages as “Fat Tire” and “Skinny Dip,” is the first jumper on the bandwagon of environmentally-friendly beer.
One six-pack of the caramel-infused beer emits over 3,000 grams of CO2 between packaging materials and transportation. New Belgium hopes to drop this number by 25 percent by 2015.
However, the specifics for how the Colorado-based brewery will achieve its suggested results are a bit fuzzy and include the phrase “by finding additional efficiencies in its production process.” New Belgium seems to be heading in the right direction, especially considering they already use less water than what is typical in the beer industry and recycle almost three quarters of its waste. Not to mention, all of its electricity comes from renewable sources.
And as if New Belgium couldn’t get any chummier with the “green” community, they’ve also changed the packaging of their flagship beer to “save paper, money and emissions.”
Of course, seeing a fellow mainstay of the beer industry take strides in eco-friendliness has caused other domestic beer companies to follow suit, most notably Anheuser-Busch and Miller Coors.
While Miller is focusing mostly on the general goal of reducing packaging and recycling almost all packaging waste, Anheuser-Busch has pulled out all the stops, from energy efficiency to greenhouse gas emissions and water use company-wide.
While some of the goals seem lofty and are backed by little more than charts showing where the brewing companies would like to be in the future, it is at least the beginning of a much-needed alcoholic sustainability conversation, hopefully over a pint at the local pub.
