Sierra Nevada, Thermo Fisher win enviromental excellence awards

ASHEVILLE - Brewing beer at Sierra Nevada isn’t all fun and hops. The new brewery in Mills River is not only committed to making the finest quality beer; the company is taking extra, more expensive steps to brew that beer in the most environmentally sustainable way possible.

Their efforts have paid off, with the announcement Nov. 11 that the brewery, along with laboratory equipment manufacturer Thermo Fisher Scientific, are the recipients of this year’s Asheville GreenWorks Environmental Excellence Award.

Also announced was Biltmore Iron and Metal Co. as the winner of GreenWorks’ Golden Shovel Award.

All three companies exemplified an outstanding commitment to environmental sustainability in their business practices, said Eric Bradford, volunteer and clean communities coordinator for Asheville GreenWorks, a more than 40-year-old nonprofit working to enhance the community through educational and volunteer-based environmental programs.

The businesses will be honored Nov. 12 at the third annual GreenWorks Root Ball, a fundraising gala, awards dinner and silent auction. Josh Dorfman of Venture Asheville, also known as the “Lazy Environmentalist,” will be the keynote speaker, discussing the link between sustainable business and environmental volunteerism.

“Beer making is a resource heavy venture,” Bradford said. “What Sierra Nevada has done is they’ve been able to save water inside of the facility, as well as outside. They have a giant storm drain initiative, capturing 452,000 gallons of storm water on their property, to process and treat it. They don’t have to do all that.”

The brewery has also adopted sustainable forestry methods on its property, replanting trees that had to come down to build the facility, and plan to plant more. Hops that can’t be used are composted.

“Their building is the envy of a lot of manufacturers, made to green building standards, with solar panels. Their culture is not top down, it’s all the way through the organization. They have all sorts of initiatives to lessen their environmental impact."

Thermo Fisher Scientific, a manufacturing plant based in Weaverville, also won big points with the environmental nonprofit.

“Thermo Fisher were able to move to a zero-waste facility,” Bradford said. “That is absolutely incredible given all the work they had to do with supply chain – materials coming in and materials going out. They’re always looking for ways to influence their suppliers to use less waste, and finding ways to recycle what they have.”

While the environmental excellence awards are more for a culture change, the Golden Shovel Award is a project-based award.

Bradford said Biltmore Iron and Metal Co. won for partnering with GreenWorks on cleaning up Western North Carolina’s largest tire dump, at 1420 Riverside Drive in Woodfin, a 62-year-old dump.

Bradford said the company, working with the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources in 2013, cleaned up more than 65,000 tires, filling 89 semi-trucks, over seven weeks.

“That’s not their thing. They didn’t get any scrap metal from the project. They just saw the need and had the equipment to help,” Bradford said. “They are also a sponsor of the GreenWorks Tire Amnesty days and Hard 2 Recycle days. And they do it all for free. They are super cool.”

To be considered for a GreenWorks Environmental Excellence Award, a company or individual must be nominated (including self-nominated). Applications are reviewed by a committee, and awarded to businesses that have shown an outstanding commitment to sustainability in their practices.

Want to go?

The third annual Root Ball, a fundraiser to benefit Asheville GreenWorks, is 6-9 p.m. Nov. 12 at the MHCC Events Center, 227 Cumberland Ave. (Greek Orthodox Church) in Historic Montford. Tickets are $45 in advance ($40 for members) and at the door. Includes dinner, open bar and silent auction. For more, visit www.ashevillegreenworks.org.