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We’re constantly told that we’re living in “unprecedented” times, and while the term has now been used with such unprecedented frequency (see what I did there) as to have lost some impact, it’s no exaggeration. Combine runaway inflation with a pandemic, sprinkle in a climate crisis and uncertain economic conditions and we can see how the past few years might be unprecedented.
Speaking from experience, the economic threats craft beer is facing are real and immediate. As has been well-chronicled, they’ve started forcing some breweries to close up shop and still pose a risk to others. While the threats are being readily identified, what’s less appreciated is that there are sustainability strategies that have long-term and environmental benefits that can help mitigate the chaos. Breweries are developing sustainability programs to address near-term and even immediate economic conditions, which is critical since we’re all in crisis-management mode these days.
To realize savings from sustainability initiatives, you have to be a little creative and also willing to challenge processes that have been in place, in some cases, for centuries. The craft beer industry has done an admirable job in that respect, leading by example in a number of different ways.
So, the report back from the front lines of sustainability implementation? I’m happy to tell you: It’s better than we could have hoped. Right now sustainable practices can be more impactful on the balance sheet than ever and more and more breweries are using them. Here are a few examples of environmental initiatives we’ve implemented at our brewery that have had meaningful business benefits and cost reductions. These aren’t limited to beer and aren’t unique to us — all this can be applied in other manufacturing industries.
1. Consider Alternative Energy to Reduce Both Costs and Environmental Impact
Modern equipment and technology are more effective and more accessible than ever, but the biggest change is that there is a lot of (free) help out there to assist businesses our size and smaller to transition to sustainable energy sources. For the same cost as ongoing utility payments, a business could own its power production in perpetuity. Consider what options might work best for your business.
For instance, our solar array covers 40 percent of our electricity costs and we’ve been running it since 2005. We have plans for a system that provides 110 percent of our power (so we can contribute some sustainable energy back) and adds microgrid power backup capability (power outages are a real menace in Northern California). With the savings and incentives in place, the system is expected to be net cash-positive in only seven years and gets to work lowering our environmental impact and utility costs immediately.
2. Find Ways to Reduce Trucking and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
CO2 is used in all sorts of industrial and manufacturing processes, beer included. We looked long and hard at the environmental impacts of our brewing process and found an effective alternative to CO2 from both a cost and environmental impact perspective: nitrogen.
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For example, our on-site nitrogen generator scrubs ambient air for nitrogen molecules to build a reserve of pure nitrogen gas and allows us to replace up to 80 percent of our CO2 usage. Nitrogen gas can be used for any processing task where we were previously using CO2 and also has the benefit of not being corrosive, not needing a truck to deliver it and not being a greenhouse gas. We’ve also found it to be fairly cheap — we’ve been running it since early 2020 and the generator paid for itself within the first year while reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by around 40 metric tons a year (not including the effect of reduced trucking).
3. Increase Recyclability by Packaging With Aluminum and Cardboard
Using more sustainable packaging materials can help reduce trucking and lower the cost of materials while simultaneously increasing recyclability, eliminating plastic and lowering your carbon footprint.
This year we transitioned entirely to aluminum can packaging and were able to reduce our shipping by 60 percent compared to glass bottle packaging. By implementing cardboard wraps, we use less total cardboard than our old glass packaging. All this and we reduced our actual material costs by switching from glass. I’ve found aluminum and cardboard packaging to be the most environmentally responsible beer packaging available and has allowed us to dramatically reduce both supply chain and packaging costs as well as our carbon footprint.
4. Develop Waste Handling Programs to Reuse and Repurpose
Save money and the earth by not putting things in dumpsters and landfills. Waste handling is another two-faceted challenge. First, you have to manage the waste and then you have to manage the trucking and disposal costs along with the environmental impacts of the waste itself. A solution for the brewing industry and its most voluminous waste stream is to repurpose the spent grain and yeast byproducts of making beer.
In our case, we partnered with a local rancher who comes by the brewery and uses it as supplemental feed for some happy local cattle. Animal feed is a common tactic for handling brewing waste but it isn’t the only one. Other examples include North Coast Brewing’s partnership with Fortunate Farm, a local family-owned and run farm that uses North Coast’s spent grains and yeast as compost for growing heirloom vegetables and flowers. Spent grains have been repurposed for everything from pizza dough to (my favorite) dog treats. Each of these strategies serves the dual purpose of reducing operational costs while improving the environmental impact of the operations at the facility.
Add it all up and, well, it actually adds up! It’s hard to understate how enormous this paradigm shift is; when operating sustainably and economically are one and the same, there is no good reason not to do the right thing. That’s huge for, you know, our continued existence on this planet.
