Jim Scherer/Getty Images
READ MORE ABOUT:
With the news that global warming will cause a worldwide beer shortage, and that biofuel subsidies are driving up the price of brew, drinking green beer isn't always as simple as just waiting for St. Patrick's Day. Thankfully, there's an easy but foolproof method to enjoying beer and treading lightly on the planet: drink from draught rather than from the bottle.
Just as all beers are not created the same, the way they're consumed does not have the same impact on the planet; it turns out that tapping a keg is greener than popping open a bottle. Chalk it up to "bulk" packaging—depending on the size of the keg, there are anywhere from dozens to hundreds of beers in one keg that would ordinarily each occupy its own bottle. Individually wrapped prunes, for example, have exponentially more packaging than their bulk equivalent, right? Same thing with beer (except it tastes better).
The numbers bear it out. Here's the tale of the tap: according to the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, the simple choice of drinking a pint from draught instead of the bottle cuts the environmental impact by a whopping 68 percent. One simple change; one huge impact.
Of course, how far the beer has to travel—and how far you travel to get it—has nearly the equivalent impact (beer is heavy!) so find a local brewery and enjoy a pint at your local watering hole. No reason to drink and drive when you can drink and walk, right?
Read more about green beer in Planet Green and TreeHugger:
Beer Brewery Has a Solution for What Ales Us: Walk to the Pub
How Green Is Your Beer?
Pedal Your Way to a Cold Beer
Draught Beer Beats Bottled in Life Cycle Assessment
-
- {}
