Sustainability
EARTH CONSCIOUS BREWING
crafting a climate for change.
“To restore stability to our planet, therefore, we must restore its biodiversity, the very thing we have removed. It is the only way out of this crisis that we ourselves have created. We must rewild the world.” – David Attenborough
The planet is at a turning point, it is down to all of us to do what we can to bring it back from the point of no return.
David Attenborough tells us that when he was born in 1937 carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were at 280 parts per million. In 2020 the levels has rised 48% to 415 parts per million. The greatest cause for this rise in carbon dioxide? Us.
It is a problem that we, as a species, have caused, and a problem that we must now work to fix.
That is why sustainability is at the core of everything we do at Gloucester Brewery, and why we have pledged to become a Net Zero business.
Trees Planted last month
We are proud to have partnered with Tree App in our mission to become more sustainable.
Trees planted to date
Treeapp has partnered with 7 tree planting NGO’s to plant trees around the world. All have met the internal criteria surrounding ethical tree planting, transparency and use-of-funds. All tree planting activities not only have environmental benefits, but also a social and economic impact by working closely with local communities.
To date, Treeapp has funded the planting of over 140,000+ trees across:
- Africa: Madagascar, Tanzania, Burundi, Ethiopia, Guinea, Mozambique, Kenya
- Americas: Brazil, Peru, Haiti
- Asia: Nepal, Indonesia
The planting activities are performed by local tree-planting NGO’s, who make sure every single tree they plant benefits endemic species and local communities.
We believe that to make a big change, we must first make lots of small changes to our daily operations. Here are just some of the things we have done so far to become a more sustainable business:
- We have purchased a brand new fully electric van to complete all local deliveries.
- All our energy is supplied from reusable energy sources by EDF.
- We have partnered with Spring Environmental to calculate our carbon emissions and create a plan to become a Net Zero business.
- We have partnered with TreeApp to support reforestation projects in developing countries across the globe, and encourage all our customers to help with every order.
- We have moved all our bottled products into cans and invested in a canning line to keep all production in house, significantly reducing road miles and maximising usage of infinitely recyclable aluminium cans.
- All our products are packaged in fully recycled cardboard boxes.
- We only use paper straws in our bars.
- Spent grain and hops are picked up by a local farmer for animal feed.
- We use centrefeed roll made from 100% recycled materials.
- We encourage our employees to walk or cycle whenever possible to reduce their own carbon footprint.
- All staff are committed to being conscious about the environment and their impact.
- All staff are encouraged to sign up with TreeApp to contribute towards global reforestation projects where it matters most.
- We minimise paper use wherever possible, and issue all our invoices electronically.
- Toilet paper in our brewery & bars is made from bamboo – from rapidly renewable and FSC certified bamboo forests. It is supplied by bumboo who partner with Eden Projects to plant a tree for every box purchased.
- We have stopped using any plastic can carry packs, and drastically reduced plastic usage across the business.
- We re-use as much packaging as we can, even down to bubble wrap used by our suppliers.
- We have installed an energy efficient air-source heat pump into Warehouse 4.
- We organise a monthly litter pick locally to help reduce pollution from littering.
Plans are in place for us to continue our journey to become Net Zero, and to improve sustainability in everything we do.
- We are seeking options to install solar panels on the brewery roof to contribute further to green, reusable electricity.
- We are investigating replacing the roof on Warehouse 4 with a modern highly insulated roof to reduce heating requirements.
- We will begin conversations with all our suppliers to gauge their carbon footprints and encourage them to work on reducing where possible.
- We are looking at options to install carbon capture technology to trap CO2 emissions from the brewing process, refine and re-use the gas instead of buying in new gas canisters.
As part of our commitment to Earth-conscious brewing we are proud to be working with a number of partners:
Spring Environmental are helping us with our pledge to be carbon neutral by the end of 2022. Working to create a full report on our current carbon emissions and a plan to reduce them.
Find out more
Vision 21, a Gloucestershire-sustainability charity. We are working with them on an exciting project for Gloucester, so watch this space for news in 2020.
FIND OUT MORE
Tree app, our tree planting partner who undertake afforestation and reforestation projects across the developing world.
We work hard to ensure sustainability throughout our supply chain.
Here are some of the people we work with:
Hops – Charles Faram, in Malvern, Worcestershire
UK Grown Malt – Brewers Select
Carbon Neutral party cans – Huber Packaging
Beer coasters from natural materials – Katz
Recycled aluminium cans – Oasthouse Engineering
Toilet Paper – Bumboo
We all want to do our bit to help the environment, but for many people it seems a daunting task and they are left asking ‘but what can I do?’
Hopefully these little tips will help you to make small changes, and if we all can do it then those changes will add up to big changes.
- Reduce waste going to landfill and recycle everything you can
- Bring your own box or bag when you visit our shop, or re-use boxes supplied by us
- Please remember to recycle your empty cans after enjoying our beer.
- Walk or cycle whenever possible, especially when visiting the shop, tap room or bar.
Our new fully electric van
zero emmission delivery across Gloucestershire.
Providing the best tasting craft beer is at the heart of the core values on which our company is founded.
We want to share this beer with as many of you as possible, in the most environmentally way possible. That is why we have invested in a new fully electric delivery van. Charged on site using green energy we are now able to complete emission free deliveries across the county – one step closer to becoming a Net Zero business.
You can now enjoy a pint of your favourite Gloucester Brewery beer in your local, safe in the knowledge that we are doing our bit to combat climate change. By drinking mindfully, you are investing in the long-term health of the planet, now and for the future.
Join us today in our pledge for #earthconsciousbrewing
HOW OUR TSHIRTS ARE MADE
From seed to shop.