Shared Coastline, Shared Values, Shared CODE
By Marcy Larson, Co-owner of Alaskan Brewing Co.
Alaska isn’t called the Last Frontier for nothing. Alaska is one-fifth the size of the Lower 48 and if superimposed over the continental United States would stretch from coast to coast, yet our population of 670,000 is less than 3 percent that of the Lone Star state.
We don’t live here because it’s easy—the remote location, extreme weather and high cost of living make it tough going. We live here because we love it. In the state capital of Juneau we are surrounded by the Tongass National Forest, the largest old-growth forest in the Northern Hemisphere; the 1,500-square-mile Juneau Icefield, and the pristine waterways of the Inside Passage.
Living, working and playing in such a majestic setting makes us aware daily about how our natural world sustains us and how we need to sustain the natural world. That’s why one of the core values of Alaskan Brewing Co. is to protect the environment by using our precious natural resources wisely. It’s our goal to have a zero-net negative effect upon our environment.
Listed below are some important ways we have shown environmental leadership in the craft beer industry.
- In 1998 we were the first craft brewery to install a carbon dioxide (CO2) recovery system, which captures the CO2 generated by the fermentation process and uses it to pressurize our tanks and bottling/keg lines. Now we are 100% efficient, meaning we no longer need to buy CO2 generated elsewhere. We collect about 3,000 pounds of CO2 a day, for an annual savings of about 783,000 pounds—more than the average annual emissions from 65 cars!
- We use a grain dryer to stabilize our spent grain, some of which is then used as fuel to operate the dryer itself! The rest of the grain is donated to local gardeners and shipped Down South for use as fertilizer and feed.
- We use considerably less water than the industry standard. Breweries typically use 7 to 10 barrels of water (215 to 430 gallons) for every barrel of beer made. In 2006, we used less than half of the industry standard, using only 5 barrels of water for every barrel of beer produced—saving enough water to fill about 33 Olympic-size swimming pools.
- We have a robust recycling program, which includes the following materials: cardboard, shrink-wrap, glass, aluminum, newspaper and magazines, paper, plastic cartons, tin cans, batteries, computers, scrap metal, spent grain, CO2 and spent diatomaceous earth (used to filter our beer).
Another core value to Alaskan Brewing Co. is to give back to the community. Each year we host tens of thousands of guests who enjoy our free tours and samples. Our guests show us their appreciation by giving tips to our crew. Each year our crew donates the tips to a local charity of their choosing. In 2006 we received more than $6,500 in tips from our generous visitors, which we donated to the Gastineau Humane Society. This year’s crew-selected recipient is Cancer Connection. We also donate beer and merchandise for nonprofit fundraising events as well as donate our time for community projects such as cleaning up watersheds and building hiking trails.
In our 21st year, we decided to combine two of our core values—environmental stewardship and philanthropy—in what we’re calling the Coastal CODE (Clean Oceans Depend on Everyone). Why the ocean? Well, Alaska has a staggering 44,000 miles of coastline, dotted with many coastal communities that depend on the Pacific Ocean for transportation, work, food and recreation. Juneau is one of those coastal communities. When we aren’t busy making great beer, our crew is most often on the water, fishing, crabbing, sailing, kayaking—or whatever other –ing they can think of.
The Pacific Ocean and a shared western coastline is one of many important ties we have to the Lower 48. It’s a shared resource that draws people together. Each year approximately 180 million Americans make 2 billion visits to ocean, gulf and inland beaches. In the United States, 75 percent of all recreational activity occurs within a half-mile corridor around shorelines, and the resulting tourism and recreation contributes more than $640 billion annually to the U.S. economy. According to the Ocean Foundation, the world’s oceans also provide us with an estimated $21 trillion of services each year, generating the oxygen we breathe and much of the food we eat, regulating our climate, cleaning the water we drink, and offering us a pharmacopoeia of potential medicines.
For those reasons and many more, we are committing 1% of all proceeds from Alaskan IPA to provide grants that support the cleanup and preservation of the Pacific Ocean and its coastlines. The fund is called the Coastal CODE, because Clean Oceans Depend on Everyone. The key to the CODE is everyone, because the CODE is more than a fund—it’s a call to action.
It’s easy to feel small and insignificant in the face of such big and overwhelming problems like pollution and climate change. But doing nothing is not the Alaskan way—and it isn’t the American way. We wanted to find things each of us can do in our everyday lives to help the Pacific Ocean. So we enlisted the help of like-minded groups such as the University of Washington’s The Coastal Society and SURF Club and Oregon’s Coastal Watch. They surveyed more than 500 people about one thing they can do to help protect the Pacific Ocean. The groups drew from the survey answers to come up with the Coastal CODE:
Please join us and keep the CODE.
Together, we can make a difference one beer at a time.
Cheers,
Marcy Larson
Alaskan Brewing Co.