Mother Earth Day is here!
Well the day has arrived, Earth Day 2013. It is amazing to see how much Earth Day has grown in just the recent years. When I woke up this morning and starting looking at all the social media outlets that we use here at Mother Earth I was amazed to see how many posts and tweets there were about Earth Day!
Two of the most common posts I saw were, “What are you doing to celebrate Earth Day?” and “What is Earth Day?" Well, after seeing all these posts I decided to write a quick blog about a day that has so much to do with the way we conduct business here at Mother Earth Brewing.
Earth Day began on April 22, 1970 and has been an important day ever since. It's a day to reflect on our planet, our environment, and what we can do to help keep them healthy. Earth Day is an annual day on which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. It is now coordinated globally and is celebrated in more than 192 countries every year!
For us at Mother Earth, April 22nd is always a great day that we look forward to, but we also live our lives and operate Mother Earth Brewing as if it were Earth Day every day. We often get questions about our name and what we do for the environment. For me to write everything we do to protect “Mother Earth” would really take a long time so I will give a few highlights.
We pride ourselves in providing the highest quality beers consistently but also giving back to the local community, and giving back to the earth by sourcing from North Carolina vendors for our packaging, ingredients, and design work whenever possible. We actively seek mutually-beneficial partnerships aimed at strengthening the local economy whenever we can.
Rather than construct a new building, we envisioned renewing an old uncared-for brick structure with the spirit of Mother Earth herself. We dove into a thorough study of environmentally friendly construction material. Less than a year later, we reached our goal. Various building materials color the brewery green from top to bottom. By choosing an old building with a lot of “character” we were able to use all found and reclaimed products when we could. That not only gives back to Mother Earth, it gives the building the warmth and character that make coming to work every day fun!
Recycled blue jean insulation was used to insulate the walls, soy-based spray foam insulation protects the second story ceiling, and Low VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint covers the walls. The flooring wasn't ignored, either. Mother Earth Brewing's corporate offices have eco carpet partially made from renewable resources. Eco flush valves on toilets know just the right amount of water needed for "the job" and reduce water needed for flushing by 30%. Eco faucets in the bathrooms offer an unimaginable savings in water compared to conventional faucets. State-of the-art tankless water heaters heat water on demand, instead of using needless energy to keep hundreds of gallons of water heated at all times.
We have always pursued sustainability initiatives throughout the creation of our brand. We have installed solar panels that now provide 100% of our taproom power, engineered a glycol-chilled, 100% freon-free cooler to store our beer, and constructed rain barrels and a cistern to collect and distribute rainwater efficiently throughout the brewery. We are Gold L.E.E.D. (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified and are always looking for new ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle. We are proud to say that we are the first production brewery in the country to attain this certification, and this achievement makes us so proud.
This is just scratching the service on all we have going on at Mother Earth. During our LEED® certification “performance period” we added a ton of policies and procedures that we follow to conduct business to further reduce our carbon footprint. I guess we just felt it important on this monumental day to speak our mind and let everyone know how much we value the Earth and everything she provides for us.
So, in conclusion, try to make it a point today and go outside. Whether you are out walking, riding a bike, or drinking a Weeping Willow Wit, think just how much you enjoy all the beautiful things Mother Earth has to offer, even if it does feel like February on this great day of April 22nd in Eastern North Carolina. :)
Brrrr….Trent