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Green business bites: Eden brewery helps beautify Smith River Greenway

 A new initiative by the MillerCoors brings brewery employees out to streams and riverbeds across the country this month. The company has adopted September as water stewardship month and on Saturday, about 45 employees and family members of the Eden brewery planted vegetation at the new Island Ford Landing of the Smith River Greenway. MillerCoors employees also worked on projects at the other nine breweries in the U.S., said Kristi Mallow, community affairs manager for the company.

"If we didn't have good water we couldn't have great beer," Mallow said. "This is a big focus for us."

The Eden brewery worked on the project in collaboration with city officials and the Dan River Basin Association. Wearing yellow T-shirts and "I volunteered for water stewardship month" buttons, the families planted 15 6-year-old crepe myrtle trees and several juniper bushes, which will help prevent erosion of sediment into the river. Children also worked on crafts, making flower blossoms out of plastic bottles and "rivers in a bottle."

Drew Lucas, the Eden brewery's environmental coordinator, said the company has worked to reduce both its water consumption and waste generation. While the United Nations recommends breweries use no more than five barrels of water for every barrel of beer, the Eden brewery is set to reach a goal ratio of 3.5 to 1. The brewery recycles 95 percent of its waste, including ash, oil, stretch wrap and foam, electronics and spent grain. The brewery also has reduced both its landfill tonnage, both as a total amount and waste-to-beer ratio. For example, the brewery generated 30 tons of waste this July compared to 50 tons in July of 2008. Read more about the company's initiatives here. 

Accompanying Photos

Morgan Josey Glover (News & Record)

Photo Caption: Matthew Walker, 13, and his father, Stacy Walker, an employee of the MillerCoors brewery in Eden, take a break during a tree planting at the Island Ford Landing at the Smith River Greenway on Sept. 12, 2009.

Additional Photos