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New Belgium Brewery
| Brand Ratings -> Beer -> New Belgium Brewery |
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Greenopia Environment Achievement:
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Green Efforts: Although everyone may not know the name New Belgium Beer, many people are familiar with its flagship beer, Fat Tire. Fans of the beer may also be aware of New Belgium’s dedication to environmental initiatives and we are happy to report that New Belgium was the greenest brewery we encountered in this study for the third straight year. First off, New Belgium is one of the few breweries to make an organic beer. Organic beers are preferable for the environment because they decrease environmental impacts associated with eutrophication and other water pollution indicators. New Belgium is also very resource efficient requiring only 3.9 liters of water per liter of beer (and this number has been improving each year). This is much lower than the industry average of around 5-7 liters of water needed. New Belgium sources its packaging materials locally (which cuts down on its transportation impact) and is in the process of researching new packaging types. New Belgium encourages its employees to ride their bikes to work and has incorporated many elements of green building design in its offices. Lastly, New Belgium Beer uses renewable energy to make its beers and has great environmental reporting, which is somewhat surprising given its smaller size. Green Issues: There is really not too much to be critical of here. Other than adding some additional organic beers to its offering, we would just like to see greener packaging which is reportedly in the works. Also, New Belgium has a very high emissions level per unit of production, but to be fair this could be due to differences in the way the carbon footprint it measured in other companies. Greenopia Verdict: New Belgium Brewery is our overall greenest beer company for the third straight year. New Belgium should be applauded for its incredible efforts. |
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