I don’t know if you are like me, every once in a while, I enjoy a cold glass of beer. It is a pet peeve of mine that the cans and bottles are disposable and not refundable. I seem to remember when I was a kid, you could turn your soda and beer bottles in for real money. Society was green before they were thinking about saving the earth. I know there are some states that you can get cash for your recyclable cans and bottles, I saw a few coin operated machines in Massachusetts. If you do not live in a state that gives you money for your returnables, at least there are alternatives to all the waste.
Drinking draught beer is far better for the environment than drinking bottled or canned beer. When you buy beer by the keg or order it at the bar, you save the environment significantly; no cardboard cases, no bottles, packaging, labels, no caps, no cans and no recycling processes.
A beer maker called New Belgium Brewing is taking the green initiative several steps further. New Belgium is an employee owned company that is using alternative fuels to power their beer making process. By minimizing their impact on the earth they are a socially responsible contributor to their community. Utilizing methane from a waste water treatment process, they fuel a co-gen (combined heat and power engine), creating on-site electricity and heat for brewing. They are also the largest private consumer of wind-power electricity and the first wind-powered brewery. This is not all they do to reduce their carbon footprint and they have a plan to do more. So the next time you are ready to drink a tall cold one, remember the environment and do your little part!
