Oct 12 2007
Drinking Locally
Since writing this blog, I’ve noticed that my actions seem to be governed more and more by sustainable thinking than ever before. On Wednesday night my wild and crazy team of auditors, and I took a trip to a local bar to enjoy some spirits. As low man on the totem pole it’s my responsibility to plunk down my plastic and open the tab. No worries, I will be reimbursed accordingly, my firm will sustain my social drinking for as long as I work there. Besides relishing the opportunity to drink for free, I thought about how to make a green impact socially. Of all of the choices behind the bar, I would normally choose Stolichnaya Vodka (Russia) or Seagram’s Seven (Canada) to mix and consume. However on this night I thought about what may be the most responsible choice for a, “greenie.” After my careful/rushed analysis, I went with plain old Budweiser. Here is my reasoning in full…
There are many angles to view this. One of which is packaging, although there are plenty of bottled beer options, the transportation of bottled beer is highly inefficient. Glass is heavy, oddly shaped and packed in a way that hardly could be considered dense. If I were to drink beer, it would have to be in keg form, i.e. on tap. However I wouldn’t be prudent if I didn’t consider liquor. One bottle of liquor could serve upwards of 25 drinks, and what’s more efficient than that. Proctor and Gamble just rolled out a 2X concentrated version of their High Efficiency detergent; that’s a double whammy of efficiency. Hard liquor is the alcohol industry’s version of 2X Tide HE. There are many fine varieties produced in the United States, but my desire to pace myself and maintain face at a work related event tipped the balance toward beer…which brings me to my next decision. Stella Artois, Guinness, Budweiser, Bud Light, or Newcastle, all on tap. What beer least impacts the environment (who cares about taste, you only taste the first one or two anyway, especially after a long day of work.) This one to me was relatively easy. Budweiser/Bud Light. Budweiser is brewed in the countryside(sarcasm)/industrial mega park that is Newark, NJ. Drinking at a bar in NYC meant that total travel was less than 25 miles, not to mention, it traveled in the super-efficient keg. It’s easily recycled and can transport a whopping 200-220 12-ounce servings. An empty Keg itself weighs 30 lbs., but its stackability and compactness counteracts this deficiency. Budweiser is also quite “pishy” meaning they skimp on ingredients, thus utilizing every hop to the fullest and really stretching their inputs.
Some might argue that raw materials must be shipped from all over the country to produce Budweiser beer in Newark, NJ. They’ve even been exposed by Green Peace to use genetically engineered rice (watch for my positive sustainable spin on genetically engineered produce coming soon). All of this is countered by the fact that foreign choices are simply unsustainable. They are shipped from across the world burning much more fuel than their domestic contemporaries and they do nothing to support our local communities/domestic economies, both of which are vital to a sustainable economic model.
All in all, a lot of thinking went into my decision concerning what to drink. And choosing Budweiser provided me a good time and a good feeling that lasted well beyond.
One response so far
Quite the contrary, one beer is not as good as any…I have 40 cases of party-surplus Natty Light stacked outside my room in the basement of my frat. I think I would trade a few acres of Amazonian rainforest to magically turn them into Coronas, but thats just me.