Introduced by Coalition of New England States with Support from the Environmental Protection Agency

A coalition of New England states announced the BetterBev Green Craft Beverage Recognition Program, a sustainability initiative funded in part by grants from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Pollution Prevention (P2) Program.

BetterBev was created to help beverage producers throughout New England fully understand their environmental practices, principles, and impact, with the goal of reducing production inefficiencies, improving health and safety, and conserving natural resources. Participating companies drive their continuous improvement by tracking waste generation and measuring the use of energy, water, and material inputs. For beverage producers that invest time and resources in sustainable practices, BetterBev will help them gain efficiencies, reduce costs, and receive recognition as a “green” business.

New England is a craft beverage powerhouse with one of the highest concentrations of craft breweries in the country. According to the Brewers Association, the region is home to over 600 craft breweries, not including other craft beverage producers such as distilleries, wineries, cideries, and meaderies. While these businesses create jobs, boost tourism, and promote economic development, they also use resources intensively. Breweries constantly heat, cool, and clean their operations, presenting excellent opportunities for cost savings. Similarly, side-streaming, reuse, and recycling strategies can minimize the environmental impact of spent grains, wastewater discharge, and packaging.

“We must constantly assess the impact our actions have on the environment, so we believe a beverage producer’s focus should be on continual improvement,” explained Luke Truman, Sustainability Coordinator for the Craft Beverage Sector Program at the New England Environmental Finance Center, located at the University of Southern Maine. “We’re grading ourselves against a constantly moving target, so we created the BetterBev program with a mindset of consistent effort, striving for improvement over time.”

Since 2022, the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island have received funding from the Environmental Protection Agency to establish Pollution Prevention (P2) technical assistance initiatives that help craft beverage producers improve their environmental performance. State-based Technical Assistance Providers (TAPs) have reached out to hundreds of craft beverage manufacturers to assess their production practices and provided recommendations to improve process efficiencies. Some states built very effective initiatives around these efforts, such as the New Hampshire Sustainable Craft Beverage recognition program (NHSCB) run by its Department of Environmental Services.

In 2023, building on the success of the NHSCB, state P2 programs decided to launch a sustainability recognition program for craft beverage producers throughout all of New England. This regional approach, which grew into BetterBev, has the potential to increase visibility, drive business participation, and disseminate environmental best practices.

“We were all moving in the same direction, working on similar initiatives, so it only made sense to partner and work together,” added Kathy Black, Pollution Prevention Program Manager for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. “The BetterBev Program amplifies the work each state is doing and raises awareness about how businesses can care for the environment and worker’s health and safety while making tasty craft beverages.”

BetterBev recognition can be earned after a beverage producer’s state oversight organization works with them to perform an audit and assessment of their environmental practices and impact. The audit and assessment covers 10 performance criteria:

Environmentally responsible sourcing
Water usage
Wastewater reduction
Stormwater management
Energy efficiency and conservation
CO2 use and emissions
Cleaning and sanitizing
Waste reduction
Packaging format and materials
Environmental culture

Beverage producers reaching specific performance thresholds over the ten areas will earn the BetterBev recognition. Those that don’t reach the required thresholds will be supported by their state oversight organization and receive the technical assistance necessary to improve their performance and receive recognition. The goal of the BetterBev program is to place every business on the path of continuous improvement, even if they are beginners looking for some basic tips or high achievers that want to invest in the latest green technologies.

The oversight organizations responsible for managing the BetterBev program in their respective state are:

Connecticut: Department of Energy and Environmental Protection
Massachusetts: University of Massachusetts Boston
Maine: New England Environmental Finance Center at the University of Southern Maine
New Hampshire: Pollution Prevention Program at the Department of Environmental Services
Rhode Island: Department of Environmental Management
Vermont: New England Environmental Finance Center at the University of Southern Maine

To learn more about the BetterBev Green Craft Beverage Recognition Program, including how a producer can participate, visit the BetterBev program page at www.betterbev.org.

About BetterBev

The BetterBev program is managed by a group of state and university environmental organizations that provide a free sustainability assessment to craft beverage producers in New England, including but not limited to breweries, wineries, and distilleries. The goal of the program is to help companies improve environmental performance, reduce operational costs, and build recognition from peers and customers. Companies that meet the BetterBev sustainability criteria are eligible for BetterBev recognition, which includes a certificate, window signage, use of the BetterBev logo, and inclusion on a BetterBev map. Learn more at www.betterbev.org.

The MBG and the Eco-Friendly Beer Drinker support sustainability efforts with a two-year grant from the EPA.

Rob Vandenabeele lives every day like it’s Earth Day.

Cofounder of the local blog Mass. Brew Bros. and a longtime public school teacher, Vandenabeele has combined his love for craft beer and the environment in a new way. After earning a certificate in Sustainability from Harvard Extension School, Vandenabeele—aka the Eco-Friendly Beer Drinker—is now the field manager of a grant-funded program helping Massachusetts breweries prevent waste and reduce their energy usage, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Brewers Guild and UMass Boston’s Center for Sustainable Enterprise and Regional Competitiveness.

Since October, Vandenabeele has visited 19 Bay State breweries and counting, to show small businesses how they can become greener—and save money in the process. Thanks to a Pollution Prevention Grant funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, Vandenabeele’s expertise is available to any Massachusetts brewery for at least the next 18 months, at no cost to business owners. Vandenabeele can come in to assess a brewery’s operations, and make recommendations about ways it could become more efficient. He’ll connect business owners with networks and resources to help them achieve their sustainability goals.

“It takes time. It takes effort. It takes knowledge,” Vandenabeele says, and he understands small business owners are already stretched thin. “Why the EPA gave us this grant is because we can go into a business” and inform them about their many options.

These days, due to the state’s ban on organic waste, breweries are likely already recycling their spent grains. They’re probably already collecting and reusing PakTechs. But what are some other ways this industry can become more environmentally friendly?

Well, Vandenabeele is glad you asked.

Harnessing Renewable Energy

You don’t have to install your own solar panels or wind turbines to use renewable energy. Vandenabeele understands that infrastructural upgrades can be cost prohibitive, or even impossible for some breweries that don’t own their own facilities.

There are some that are doing it, of course:

Barrington Brewery and Restaurant was the first in Massachusetts to invest in an on-site solar array.
Riverwalk Brewing in Newburyport leases space in a large building with a 500-kilowatt solar array on the roof and also has a wind turbine. The brewery draws 100% of the energy it uses from on-site renewables.
7th Wave Brewing in Medfield owns its own building (which also houses 10 other businesses, including a distillery and a sake brewery). A 500-kilowatt solar array on the roof produces more power than the building uses—so not only does the brewery not have an electricity bill to pay, but it actually collects a check each month from Eversource.

But those are examples of the gold standard. Vandenabeele wants every brewery (and private citizen!) to know about how easy it can be to invest in renewable energy through purchase power agreements.

With a PPA, customers buy electricity from a third-party contractor, which works with other providers of renewable energy—be it solar, wind, hydro, etc. “Someone else is doing all the work” to set up the source of power, Vandenabeele explains, while the brewery’s electricity-bill money is, “in essence, going to increase the infrastructure for renewable power.”

For developers of renewable power sources, it can be lucrative, because federal and state governments are incentivizing purchase power agreements. But PPAs can also save money for energy users. Amherst Brewing Company’s five Hangar Pub restaurants, Coastal Mass. Brewing Co., Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing Co., Fieldcrest Brewing Co., Lost Shoe Brewing & Roasting Co., Moby Dick Brewing Co., and Pioneer Valley Brewing Co., have all tied to community solar through associate member of the MBG, East Coast Renewable Energy. Participants are expected to save 10% on their electric bills through the program.

There's no investment required whatsoever to participate in a PPA—and in fact, most agreements offer a discount because of the environmental benefits. Check out the state’s website about purchase power agreements to learn about the options, or get in touch with East Coast Renewable Energy for a free evaluation.

Reducing Organic Waste

Until the U.S. tackles the problem of food waste—which sees nearly 40% end up in landfills annually—Vanguard Renewables is stepping in with a solution.

The Agawam-based company collects organic waste such as spent grains, food scraps, and even out-of-code beer and turns it into methane gas, which can be used for energy, through a controlled process called anaerobic digestion. If this waste ends up in a landfill, it also becomes methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to increased atmospheric warming and climate change.

An associate member of the MBG, Vanguard Renewables is already working with numerous Massachusetts breweries, including Berkshire Brewing Company, Riverwalk, Jack’s Abby, Tree House, Wachusett Brewing, and White Lion. In 2022, the company recycled nearly 11,000 tons of brewery waste, mitigating about 6,350 tons of carbon dioxide. That’s equivalent to planting more than 100,000 trees. The renewable energy produced by anaerobically digesting that waste is capable of fueling a city bus for over 1,000,000 miles, according to Vanguard.

While methane gas is still a fossil fuel, harnessing it in a controlled way, from rescued organic waste, is a more environmentally friendly source of it than fracking is, Vandenabeele notes.

Sourcing Local Ingredients

Supporting your local brewery feels great—but how local is that beer, really? In reality, the grain base probably grew in the Midwest or Canada, and the hops were likely flown in from the Pacific Northwest. “There are substantial emissions involved with that delivery,” Vandenabeele says.

Using locally grown ingredients achieves two major goals: One, it cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions associated with shipping materials, and two, it supports the local economy. More demand for New England-grown ingredients “creates new opportunities for local farmers to consider a whole new crop,” Vandenabeele says.

CraftRoots Brewing is unique in sourcing all the malt it uses from New England craft maltsters, as well as the majority of its hops from a family farm in Western Mass. Redemption Rock in Worcester, the first Massachusetts craft brewery to become a certified B Corp; Wormtown, Lamplighter, Trillium, and Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing Co. have also all produced exclusively local products.

“They’re putting their money where their mouth is,” he says. “If you’re a farmer thinking about growing barley or wheat, you need to have an end-market to sell it to. So if Lamplighter says, ‘We’ll take as much as we can get from you,’ that’s huge.”

The Northeast Grainshed Alliance was founded in 2020 to increase demand for Northeast grains. It promotes networking and collaboration between local growers, processors, and makers; and it increases understanding about the value of regional grains through various communications and policy advocacy strategies. The SQFT Project, for example, is a tool makers can use to calculate the square footage of farmland involved in making a product, and features a logo signifying the product’s commitment.

“For consumers, you should buy that beer if you care about the environment,” Vandenabeele says. If a beer touts 100% local hops or malt—even a one-time, special release—“that’s serious dedication by that brewery.”

Creating a sustainable culture

Portico Brewing, which recently opened its first taproom in Somerville after years as a contract brand, has hit the ground running with plans for sustainability, says Vandenabeele, who helped the company apply for and receive a grant from the state Department of Environmental Protection. The MassDEP Reduce, Reuse, Repair Micro-Grant provides recipients up to $5,000 to establish waste reduction projects. Portico is using its grant to help pay for reusable silverware, plates, bowls, trays, and stainless steel cups for its taproom and in-house kitchen, in an effort to have zero waste.

The new brewery at Boynton Yards is also working to become a certified bike-friendly business, and is establishing partnerships with local conservation groups like the Charles River Watershed Association, the Somerville Urban Forestry Division, and the Great Massachusetts Cleanup. Portico also has its sights set on becoming the first Massachusetts brewery to become a member of 1% For the Planet, a non-profit organization that encourages all kinds of businesses to donate a percent of gross sales to environmental causes.

Sure, Portico has the clean slate of its first brick-and-mortar—but well-established breweries can make these changes, too. Vandenabeele, the MBG, and our partners at UMass Boston are excited to show you how.

To learn more and set up a sustainability evaluation at your brewery, email the Eco-Friendly Beer Drinker today. Happy Earth Day!

BetterBev - A Green Craft Beverage Recognition Program Launches in New England