A six-pack has a carbon footprint as big as your beer gut, according to a Wall Street Journal article.
When New Belgium Brewing Co. set out last year to compute the carbon footprint of a six-pack of its Fat Tire Amber Ale, it figured it would find transportation was the biggest problem. That’s the emission source New Belgium thinks about most often. The microbrewer, based in Fort Collins, Colo., has been expanding into more states, necessitating more trucking of its beer.
When the numbers came in this summer, they showed that a six-pack’s carbon footprint was about seven pounds. The real surprise was where the bulk of that number came from: the refrigeration of the beer at stores. Transportation came in fourth, behind manufacturing the glass bottles and producing the barley and malt. “It seems that in every [carbon-footprint study] I’ve come across, people are surprised,” says Jennifer Orgolini, New Belgium’s sustainability director.
Now, New Belgium is considering switching to bottles with more recycled glass, because making them consumes less fuel. It’s also considering buying barley and malt produced organically, rather than with chemical fertilizers, which are big emitters.
Refrigeration poses a tougher problem. Stores selling Fat Tire aren’t owned by New Belgium, so even if the brewer wanted them to stop refrigerating the beer, they might not do so.
There are smaller potential fixes. Many stores could switch from less-efficient, open-front beer chillers to more-efficient models enclosed by clear doors. But that presents its own hurdle, Ms. Orgolini notes: “People don’t want to have to open the door.”
Well, it isn’t as big as your beer gut. The carbon foot print of a six-pack is pretty similar to that of a plastic gallon of milk, 7 pounds to 7.2 pounds, respectively, the WSJ said.
But, don’t forget, that this story doesn’t really consider some other environmental factors such as methane farting cows, amber waves of grain and the greater impact of agri-business in general.
As far as bottling of beer goes, I hope the use of growlers catches on as quickly as the microbrew/local brew phenomenon.
Adam Stein at Terrapass writes:
The concept has now been revived by brewpubs and other craft brewers. Although concern for the environment may not be the motivating factor, the benefits of this arrangement are clear. Many of these beers travel at most a few dozen miles to get from brewery to store. Once there, the beers are pumped straight into reusable glass containers, rather than swaddled in throwaway packaging.
As an added bonus, craft breweries are usually local affairs that tend to support the types of social values that make me all warm inside. For example, the Brooklyn Brewery is powered with 100% wind energy, pays farmers to recycle its spent grain as cattle feed, and delivers its kegs in biodiesel-fueled trucks. Six Point Craft Ales (also here in Brooklyn) lists community development and environmental sustainability as part of its mission.
A look around local brewery Terrapin’s website yielded no news on the Athens Growler question. But after an email inquiry to the company, the president informed me that it’s against state law at this time for them to sell take home brews directly from the breweries, even though it’s okay for wineries to do so. Terrapin should be commended for their other projects – they offer incentives to return six-pack containers to the brewery and contribute a lot of money to various causes.
On top of making great beer.
Green Right Now offers some sustainable drinking tips here, but let it be known that drinking sustainably does not mean functioning alcoholically.
guilt-free drinking?
The Solo Cup Company is helping to make your next keg party a little more eco-friendly with their line of BARE plastic party cups. Perfect timing for my wife and I as we plan our seasonal chili and beer party.
Thanks to mcmilker at ecopreneurist for the heads up on the WSJ article.
And thanks to everyone who uses kegerators at home and who drink whiskey straight from the bottle.
