I found this video about New Belgium Brewing Company's efforts in sustainability. It's a bit long at almost 10 minutes, but shows a lot of the great things they are doing as one of the leaders in socially and environmentally responisble brewing:
Since it's Earth Day, I thought I would give a quick list of some links to some of the more sustainable and environmetnally friendly breweries. I read a great article in the Great Lakes Brewing News about Sierra Nevada and their innovations in sustainable energy. Pretty amazing. I'm trying to get a link or a copy of the article to post, but you can check out their wesbsite.
http://www.sierranevada.com/environment.html
Of course New Belgium is another brewery who has done amazing things to be enviromentally friendly, including being a wind powered brewery. Here's their philosophy:
We believe, to be environmental stewards, we need to:
1. Lovingly care for the planet that sustains us.
2. Steward natural resources by closing the loops between waste and input.
3. Minimize the environmental impact of shipping our beer.
4. Reduce our dependence on coal-fired electricity.
5. Protect our precious Rocky Mountain water resources.
6. Focus our efforts on conservation and efficiency.
7. Support innovative technology.
8. Model joyful environmentalism through our commitment to relationships, continuous improvement, and the camaraderie and cheer of beerYou can check out more at:
http://www.newbelgium.com/sustainability2.php
A small brewery in Canada is really doing some amazing things, and is almost completely sustainable. They are called Cranog Ales in British Columbia and they brew on their own farm:
Crannóg Ales is located on our own ten-acre farm in Sorrento, BC. The farm and brewery are fully integrated, with the brewery providing food for the livestock, and the farm providing hops for the brewery. The water for the brewery comes from a well in the middle of our farm, fed by springs on the farm as well as streams from the mountains which surround us.
More information about them can be found at: http://www.crannogales.com/
I'll plug an interview from my site, but a big champion of the organic/sustainable brewing movement is Chris O'Brien, founder of the Beer Activist blog and the writer of Fermenting Revolution. I interviewed him about some of these topics and more.
Scott at East End Brewing Company in Pittsburgh only takes out a garbage bag a month! Pretty incredible, check out his site for more information on their efforts, or the interview he did here. And for those in the Pittsburgh area, he's offering $1 off growlers for anyone who walks, bikes, or takes mass transit to the brewery on Earth Day!
Finally, Great Lakes Brewing Company is brewery in Cleveland that does amazing things as well. Their company goals include:
