Though I was born and raised in New Jersey, I have referred to myself as a Philadelphian for the past few years. Don’t get me wrong, I love New Jersey and it will always be my home state. But as soon as mom drove off after moving me into my first apartment, Philadelphia quickly became my place of belonging, my home. Given the choice and the means to do so, I would move back into the city in a heartbeat. In fact, I plan to do so when I return to the east coast. There are many reasons why I love Philadelphia and why I am proud to call it home… the food, the community, the parks, the accessibility, the “brotherly love”, the culture, the art, the sports. I know it very well at this point and I am quick to judge other cities because I am so partial to Philly. But while I have spent the past few months researching the sustainable and social impact practices of other parts of the country, I don’t have enough information about my own city to use it as another point of comparison. I find myself saying things like, “I wonder if Philly does this too”. For someone with so much Philly pride, I feel ashamed of the need to ask these questions. Furthermore, while I continue to learn so much about the B-Corps on the west coast, I am clueless about the B-Corp community in Philadelphia. What’s funny is that B-Lab(the non-profit that certifies B-Corps) is headquartered just outside of the city. Needless to say, I have a lot to learn when I get back home, and I could not be more excited for it!
Much like Philadelphia has its own flavor, so do the cities in Colorado. Denver seemed to have a hyper, party scene going on, while Boulder was mellow and artsy. For that reason, I promptly left Denver after TED and spent the next few weeks in Fort Collins and Boulder. Fort Collins is a huge college and beer town about 90 minutes north of Denver. My friend Jake moved out to F.C. a few years ago and I finally decided to take him up on an open invitation to visit. Within my first few hours in town, he took me up to Horsetooth Reservoir to see the sunset. This place is stunning, though it wasn’t the sun or the water that first caught my attention. It was the roads… cyclist heaven! I proceeded to start each of my mornings riding these gorgeous hills. That same week we took a spur day trip to Rocky Mountain National Park, which I cannot even begin to describe. At 12,000 feet elevation you can see miles and miles of snow peaked mountains, lush forests, and high elevation lakes. The park itself is enormous and full of hiking trails that you could spend a year exploring. What I loved about Colorado is that no matter where you are, great hiking is never too far away.
Horsetooth at sunset
The bottom of Rocky Mountain National Park
Despite my best efforts to ignore the overwhelming beer community in Fort Collins, my most memorable experience in F.C. was at a brewery. New Belgium is just one of several breweries in Fort Collins. People here love their beer! While I can attest to their great tasting brew, that is not what lead me to NBB(New Belgium Brewery) that day. NBB is a B-Corp! The only one in Fort Collins actually. Because of this, I immediately booked a tour of the brewery. I was expecting a decent beer tasting and perhaps some information on their sustainability programs. What I got instead was SO much more. Up to this point I have been consistently impressed by the initiatives and practices of the B-Corps I have researched on the west coast. But NBB takes it to a completely different level of amazing… prepare to be amazed!
Let’s first walk through what it’s like to be an employee of NBB. On your one year anniversary as an employee you receive two things; a brand spankin’ new NBB bike, and ownership of the company! NBB is 100% employee owned and they not only encourage alternative transportation, they work with you to make it possible. Whether it’s the bike you receive on your 1 year anniversary, the charging stations for electric cars, the Prius provided for company errands, the bike parking and showers, or the loaner bikes on-site, NBB makes it 100% possible for everyone to use sustainable transportation. Employees are also provided with all of the following benefits… flex-time and telecommuting, a trip to Belgium on their 5 year anniversary, a rock climbing wall in the brewery, sand volleyball courts, an indoor slide, use of the on-site community kitchen, discounted gym memberships, weight-loss program discounts, access to smoking cessation plans, yoga twice a week, voting and bereavement leave, a 4 week paid sabbatical on their 10th, 20th and 30th anniversary, acupuncture, and assistance paying for triathlons and bike races with the wellness committee budget. On top of all of this, employees also receive paid time off for volunteering. In 2012, 3000 hours of service were donated by NBB employees!
New Belgium is the 3rd largest craft brewer in the United States. To some, that may mean that they make a lot of beer. To me, that means they have influence and the power to make a serious difference as a company. In terms of sustainability, they are true inspirations. As I walked around the brewery, sipping on La Folie and Paardebloem, I listened to the guide explain NBB’s zero waste and minimum footprint efforts. They live, breathe, and walk sustainability at this facility… porous asphalt sidewalks, solar power on rooftops for day energy, use of reclaimed materials and beetle-kill pine for all furnishings in the tasting room, treatment on-site for all production waste water, spent grain from the brewing process is sold to local farmers as cattle feed, on-site highly sophisticated recycling center, methane gas by-product is used in the brewery to power a generator during peak hours(accounting for 15% of electricity needs), wind credits used to power the rest of the facility, 90% of hops sourced from the northwest US, all glass and cardboard is from Colorado, and most rooms in the facility are lit with natural light. WHOA, right?! It’s overwhelming, and I am sure there is more that can be added to that list.
Not only does NBB spread the “good” through their employees and their facilities, they also have quite a few other tricks up their sleeve that make it hard to resist giving them business. One being that 5.9% of their profits go to charity. They are also in the process of building an east coast facility in Ashville, NC to minimize on transportation costs. The new facility is being built on a brownfield site rather than on potential agricultural land and eliminating natural habitat. In addition, NBB is working with local Ashville partners to install bike and pedestrian infrastructures; financing more sidewalks and bike lanes from the center of town to their new location. New Belgium also hosts a number of events each year. My favorite is the Tour de Fat, a free costumed bike parade, held in about a dozen cities nationwide. All gross revenues from the event are donated to local cycling non-profits to support each community that the parade rolls through. And in support of cycling awareness and bike advocacy, Tour de Fat has a “Trade Your Car For A Bike Challenge”. Those who choose to partake in the challenge, hand over their keys and pledge to be car-free for 1 year. I was very surprised to hear how many people actually take the pledge! Finally, NBB really advocates for responsible drinking. This business was built on a desire to create quality, tasty, craft beer. Contrary to many other beer companies who mass produce and sell cheap beer for “quantity” drinking. In promoting quality over quantity, NBB sponsors beer dinners to foster an appreciation for it and educate drinkers, their tasting room limits tasters to 4 small pours(education above consumption), the company cancels any and all events that are too focused on drinking, and the beer is priced at point to avoid “bulk” buying for heavy drinking. Though I am not much of a drinker, I think it’s clear that my choice would be New Belgium.
From Fort Collins I made my way to Boulder for a few days. If i had to give a “flavor” to this city, it would be healthy and active. The minute I arrived in town it was easy to see why this was named the most “fit” city in the United States. Everyone is in shape and walks around with a smile. It is so true that healthy people are happy people. If you are a health fanatic like myself, you probably know how difficult it can be to scope out healthy and ethically sourced food options. Well, in Boulder I didn’t even have to “google it”. Farm to table restaurants, organic eateries and juice bars are everywhere! The healthy/happy attitude and lifestyle are infectious here, I could hardly contain the urge to skip down Pearl Street and belt out a big “woohoo!”. On one of my days here I spent some time with my new friend Julian(who I coincidentally met on top of Bell Rock in Sedona), letting out that positive energy on some light hiking trails. I did not get to do as much hiking as I would have liked in Boulder, no thanks to a bum knee from a mountain biking accident a few days prior. Regardless, we spent time on the gorgeous creek that runs along the side of town and sipping on Bhakti Chai(a B-Corp based in Boulder!). Speaking of B-Corps, there are quite a few in the Boulder area.. Vendante Corp, a reflective apparel company; Cellular Recycle, keeping e-waste from landfills through fundraising programs and responsible disposal options; ThinkImpact Corporation, a global social enterprise leveraging local resources and community collaboration; Best Organic’s, organic and sustainable gift baskets.
There are dozens of them in Boulder and scattered around Colorado. It was here that I really got to see the power of these corporations. Many of these companies have a wide range of competitors, but the B-Certification distinguishes them from the others. For example, Bhakti Chai is served prepackaged in markets and in cafes as a hot or iced drink. In most cases, you will also see 3rd Street Chai as an option on the shelf or on the cafe menu. How do you choose? They cost the same, both use fair-trade and organic ingredients and are equally tasty. I chose Bhakti and convinced a few other people to also. Why? Bhakti is a B-Corp. I later researched more about Bhakti and found out that they pay a living wage, have zero-waste manufacturing, give preference to local suppliers and banks, give employees paid time off for volunteering, have social and environmental criteria for suppliers, and 10% of their profits go to charity. That is DEFINITELY a company I want to give preference to. Clearly this is not all written on the label of my prepackaged chai, and the barista serving it is certainly not going to blurt this information over the counter. But because I know what B-Corp means, I can make a decision that I know will support a company making a positive impact on the world.
As I continue in my adventures, I will keep making these decisions and stay educated on what companies are certified. Let me leave you with this challenge… go to the B-Corporation website, look up some companies in your area, look for the B-Corp label, and give yourself informed options. Here, I’ll give you a head start for your next trip to the grocery store… Numi Tea is a B-Corp and Method Products are too! San Francisco is next, and from what I have researched so far, it looks like B-Corp central! Bring on the benefit! : )
Reduce, Renew, Redefine 