Switching to plastic-free soap, shopping at a refill store, and using hangers made from recycled plastic are all excellent ways to live a sustainable lifestyle. However, individual actions alone won’t solve the climate crisis.
Did you know 71% of global greenhouse gas emissions (since 1980) come from just 100 corporations? ICK.
Your/our real power lies in collective action — not just making sustainable lifestyle changes, but supporting small sustainable businesses who have the power to make a bigger impact.
Small sustainable businesses spark a culture shift, driving us toward a greener, more eco-conscious society and economy.
We felt it was time for a new blog series to highlight the power of other small businesses and shed light on the eco-solutions and changes these small businesses have incorporated. And we couldn’t think of a better place to look than our own supporters who use ( r e ) ˣ hangers in their daily operations.
In this blog we’re spreading the word about a sustainable brewery—one that prioritizes people, planet, and community.
They clean their own wastewater and manage waste responsibly to create an exceptional, environmentally-centered product. Let’s talk about Fort George Brewery!
meet Fort George Brewery
Special thanks to Kirsten, the DTC Coordinator, for chatting with Paulina and I about all things beer, sustainability, glacier water, and climate change!
Fort George Brewery, located in Astoria, OR started 17 years ago by Jack Harris and Chris Nemlowill. After traveling through Europe, Chris was inspired after seeing the relationship between the breweries and the community. After returning to Astoria, the two teamed up to create their own draught of community.
turning a brewery and public house into a community
A community can be a hard thing to define, so the founders of Fort George Brewery kept it simple. They wanted to create a space that put people and the planet first.
- A warm, inviting atmosphere where all people feel comfortable gathering.
- A place that supports other areas of the community whether they’re directly connected or not.
- And a place that works to take the burden off the individual.
Each month, FGB hosts a benefits night where the profits are donated to a non-profit or organization, each with a local focus or impact.
As a 1% for the planet member, FGB gets to decide how and where they want to donate the funds for climate action. Not only do they keep their donations as local as possible, they help local non-profits get certified to become 1% for the planet partners to be able to get more money.
While we were speaking, Kirsten said something that really stood out to me. “Anything we can do as a company is going to have a higher impact than what an individual can do.”
We can get so focused on our individual actions it’s hard to look up and see how we can support or team up with others to make a bigger impact.
That can mean something as small as making a local sustainable brewery your new hangout spot! Fort George Brewery is always looking for ways to reduce their impact like:
- Not distributing farther than the Pacific Northwest (did you know distribution is the one of the most wasteful parts of brewing?).
- Donating back to the community.
- Creating a safe, and dare we say fun, working environment.
- Creating their own biogill system to process their own wastewater thereby saving the city energy and effort (we’ll get into that).
- Using recycled plastic hangers in their retail store.
And generally just working to create a closed-loop system wherever possible.
( r e ) ˣ recycled plastic hangers at FGB
Of course we had to ask what drew FGB to recycled plastic hangers and how it’s going!
Kirsten told us, "We struggled with hangers breaking and bending for years in our pub. When we were all set to expand our merch space last year, our Merch Manager Erin went on a hunt for a more sustainable alternative. Wooden hangers were pricey and bulky on our merchandise displays. We love the durability and the colors of the ( r e ) ˣ hangers."
FGB told us they have received countless compliments on the hangers from customers!
- They color coordinate the hangers to match up with sizes for their merch
- This creates a really intuitive (and organized) shopping experience.
- The hangers have even been able to withstand excited tiny hands pulling them down!
- And they’ve never had a hanger break! (Yes, we’re asking everyone).
We love being a part of another small, sustainable business and adding another talking point about sustainability and how it affects us all.
If you’re not already impressed, don't worry, we’ve got more bragging brewing for FGB.
sustainable brewing in action
FGB brewery is located in Astoria, OR and thanks to Astoria’s protected watershed (a method of collecting, managing, and storing water) and slow sand filtration, they have some of the cleanest, natural drinking water in the country.
The Cascade mountains that stretch along North America’s upper west coast are experiencing significant snow loss. Residents from Canada to Washington to Oregon can visibly see more and more bare rock over the years.
That snow is essential not only to making good beer, but to all human and animal life in the region as well.
If breweries start losing access to water and hops because of climate change they can’t create good beer.
Oregon is also the #2 producer of hops with Washington state being #1. High-quality ingredients literally grow in their backyard.
But outside of using the cleanest water and locally sourced hops, FGB really said “That’s not enough. What can we do to not only create great beer but center the people of our community and the planet?”
They’ve been able to make significant sustainable practices in the following 4 areas:
- Source grain locally and in bulk
- Reduce waste during the brewing process.
- Move all parts of the canning process closer (in process) and only distribute to the PNW
- Clean their own wastewater to reduce impact on city systems.
sustainable solutions from small businesses: brewery style
source grain locally & in bulk
FGB has their pick of high-quality grains from all over Washington & Oregon. They support and buy from local farmers whenever possible but they do need to import from Germany for a couple of things.
They have 3 grain silos on property that hold specialty grain that allows them to order in bulk.
- This cuts back on environmental and physical costs of grain.
- And allows them to buy grain at scale and keep them at scale, wasting less fuel & less ingredients.
Reducing waste during brewing
Typically beer gets filtered and pasteurized which relies on additional materials like diatomaceous earth (de) that can be difficult to responsibly dispose of. Filtration can also lead to wasted product because it ends up capturing a lot of the final product and it can’t be extracted. FGB uses a centrifuge instead.
A centrifuge is kind of like that spaceship ride from the county fair except the inside doesn’t remain still. It spins at super high speeds which pushes the heavy solids to the outside allowing the now filtered liquid to be collected.
- Because of this they get more yield per batch.
- It creates enormously less waste.
- And generates more profit!
It’s a win-win-win.
But wait, there’s more! The solid waste is sent to local farms because it’s actually a super high nutrient animal feed!
Move all parts of canning closer
Did you know printing sticker labels on aluminum cans makes them non-recyclable?!
- Last year FGB began eliminating labels.
- They’re working on partnering with a local company to print directly on the can and print at a more appropriate scale.
This helps them have more flexibility with their order numbers (which creates less waste) and will create less shipping emissions in the process!
Wastewater innovation
This is by far the coolest and probably the most sustainable solution from FGB: the BioGill.
FGB makes 9 billion pints of beer each year.
Can you imagine how much wastewater that creates? Using the BioGill, their own onsite wastewater treatment facility,they create the same load of wastewater as a 4 person household.
BioGill is an Australian company designed to help breweries, wineries, and food service companies create an affordable, sustainable sewage treatment process. And it’s working!
FGB’s BioGill holds 32,000 barrels of water and is part compost-part wastewater plant.
- It uses microorganisms, passive oxygen, and gaseous oxygen to clean the water.
- It can even tolerate levels of fat, oil, and grease which cause problems in a traditional compost.
It doesn’t stop there!
- The clean water goes back into the system
- The food-grade solids are essentially gourmet cow food full of nutrients.
- And FGB provides this “waste” to local farms to help feed their cattle high-quality food.
Obviously this is super cool and sustainable, but this benefits the entire community by reducing the workload of the public’s wastewater treatment plant, ultimately saving everyone money and resources.
the impact of small changes
We've emphasized that a company/brand serving many can make a bigger impact than an individual (unless you also are brewing 9 billion pints of beer/year?).
This doesn't mean your individual actions don't matter—they absolutely do. Spending money with small sustainable businesses not only helps that business continue to operate, but it helps drive market demand.
Significant, long-lasting changes though come from collective action and working together. This can look like:
- Making your wants and needs known to the politicians who represent you.
- Running for those same offices.
- Teaming up with friends, colleagues, family to start petitions, be vocal, and educate the masses.
- Volunteer with (or create) environmentally-centered non-profits.
- Helping existing environmental non-profits get set up with organizations like 1% for the planet.
The climate crisis has escalated quickly and been ignored for so long that a lot of the things we’re doing are experimental.
Not everything is going to work and that’s okay.
Kirsten was up front with us about some of the things FGB has tried with the best of intentions that didn’t end up working out.
It’s important to highlight that no one knows what they’re doing, businesses included, we’re all just figuring it out (and pivoting!). The most important thing is that we keep trying.
Every idea is a good idea until it’s not. Sustainability is moving fast, we’re all trying to do the best thing but sometimes we get it wrong and that’s okay. FGB will continue on their sustainable journey and we’re confident they’re going to continue succeeding and setting an example for what can be.
Because at the end of the day they have an order:
- People first
- Planet second
- Profit third
They are making one of the best products (like their Hazy Pale Ale City of Dreams that took home a gold medal at the World Beer Cup in 2024 and a gold-winning lager from the Oregon Beer Awards), but if it doesn’t consider people and the planet it’s not a good, sustainable product.
People and planet are what make the product.