At Widmer Brothers Brewing Company, our mission goes beyond brewing beer people love as much as we do. Our greatest responsibility belongs to the environment and to working and living in a sustainable manner. As a company, we strive to bring about personal, organizational and planetary sustainability through ecologically sound practices. We are committed to improving the way we work with our natural resources, finding ways to give back, and reducing our overall impact on the earth.

Sincerely,
Rob Widmer & Kurt Widmer

Recycling

• Waste beer, spent grain and yeast from the brewery are recycled as cattle feed
• Widmer Brothers Brewing Company actively participates in the Portland Composts Project
• Over 50% of Widmer Brothers beer is sold in reusable, returnable kegs; the other 50% is sold in recyclable glass
• Widmer Brothers Brewing Company is involved in an aggressive recycling program for cardboard, plastic, glass, metal and paper

Energy Conservation

• Reengineered our custom bottle to reduce the weight by 11% resulting in an annual savings of 5610 tons of CO2 emissions or the equivalent of removing 850 cars from the road for a year
• To conserve energy, high efficiency electric motors are used in the brewing process
• The Widmer Brothers brewery conserves additional energy by recovering and reusing heat (BTU's) from the brewing process
• Windows and skylights are used in the brewery to bring in natural light and reduce electricity costs
• For efficient lighting, the brewery uses motion-sensing light switches

Resource Protection

• Over the next 3 years, we are working to make Drifter Pale Ale water-neutral. With Water Restoration Certificates, we will restore 2,781,000 gallons of water to critically de-watered Oregon streams, the equivalent of what will be used to brew Drifter.

Alternative Energy

• 10% of the brewery's electricity is generated from clean renewable wind-power, which saved 399,128 pounds of CO2 emissions or the equivalent to not driving a car 405,814 miles

Green Transportation

• Widmer Brothers Brewing Company provides incentives to its employees who use green means of transportation

As a result of improving the energy efficiency of our business operations, providing alternative transportation options for employees, and implementeing a robust waste reduction and recycling program, Widmer Brothers Brewing Company was awarded the “Climate Champions” designation by the BEST Business Center of Portland in 2010. Read more about it here.