Friday, July 18, 2008

Saving the Earth, One Beer at a Time

I was posting a photo to NowPublic article concerning alternate energy in general and Al Gore's current efforts in particular. Part of my comment to the article was to point out the sheer hypocrisy of Gore stumping for responsible energy consumption while living in a 20-room mansion. It got me to feel a rant coming on, but I'm not going to do that here. Eventually though, it got me to thinking about beer...

Let it Flow!  Maibock on tap
Saving the Earth, one beer at a time.

A few years ago, my wife and I bartered for a used refrigerator and and converted it to hold a keg of beer with a tapper in the door. The beer stays fresh, and we no longer discard/recycle 53 bottles per 5-gallon 'pub' keg. The fridge is efficient because it's only opened once or twice a month. Net result: Less energy consumed.

In the past three years, that's something like 1,200 bottles not ...
having raw materials mined,
shipped,
manufactured,
packaged,
shipped,
filled,
packaged,
shipped,
stored,
used once,
shipped,
recycled (hopefully!),
and shipped.

For two people. Ponder that for a few minutes.

It's all about making wise choices and considering the entire life cycle of what we consume. Cheers!

1 comment:

  1. Wow....That's got me thinking! I need to get Boedie on the idea of a solar powered refrigerator for a keg of beer ;)
    Love your pics...I take a few minutes every few weeks to get a glimpse of the gorgeous colors and intriging scenes. It's really nice that you post the technical aspects of what you're doing. I hope that someday I can spend some time taking more pics...you're inspiring!

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