Drink Green Beer, Not Just on St. Patty's Day
Drinking beer from a can is cool.
Going aluminum
For those of us who like to drink beer, particularly microbrews, the glass can really pile up. Especially in places like Bonner County, where glass is not recycled but instead goes into the general waste stream to be hauled long-distance to a ginormous landfill in The Dalles, Oregon.
Glass recycling is hard to come by in North Idaho, and this excellent story at DownToEarthnw.com explains why. But not so with aluminum.
So I'm learning to like beer in a can until we can get a bottle bill passed in Idaho. (Don't hold your breath!)
We've tried PBR, Tecate and Kokanee in a can. And we can also get growlers refilled at Laughing Dog Brewery in Ponderay. (That's probably the greenest way to go—local).
Still, I was mighty pleased when my husband brought home a 12-pack of Fat Tire in a can. Turns out, New Belgium Brewing, is turning to aluminum for a few of its brews: Fat Tire, Sunshine Wheat and, soon, Ranger IPA.
The New Belgium Brewing Blog lists three reasons to drink out of a can: "1: It is totally awesome, 2: Aluminum is a closed loop recycler with many easily accessible rubbish bins for collection, 3: Way more packable (on those out of doors type trips) than glass."
Hey, pass me a cold one!
Susan Drumheller, North Idaho Associate
