New Belgium Brewery must be reading my blog. The Ft. Collins-based beer company has become living proof that we don't need more government regulation in order to use our natural resources more wisely. The brewery just built a new bottling plant with some amazing features. According to 9 News in Denver, the plant was built out of reclaimed timber, its kettels use 65% less energy than standard kettles, and it even reuses its waste water. New Belgium is doing its part--voluntarily, mind you--to implement and maintain environmental best practices. Amazingly, the government didn't even have to tell them to do it!
Why are they doing it? It's simple--more and more consumers want to purchase "eco-friendly" products. New Belgium saw this and responded by giving their customers what they wanted. Thus, the beer company sells more beer, pays less in overhead (their new system has reduced the plant's energy bill by $3000 per month), and everyone is happy.
This is a perfect example that perhaps the government shouldn't take the lead in the race to "save the environment" (a concept which I find rather arrogant and androcentric, but I digress). The free market being what it is, when consumers demand X, businesses either make their products do X or shut their doors. Perhaps our lawmakers should give this concept a chance to work--a concept which positively reinforces responsible use of natural resources--instead of rushing to punish those who would dare drive their non-hybrid car to work and back.
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Commentary about the philosophical, theological, musical and cultural landscapes of our day. And, of course, the occasional book review.
3 comments:
and they all can drink guilt free knowing mother earth is being protected, huh!!!
Hi Jon;
Interesting article; I agree very much that making laws is not always the answer. Here is another aspect we may want to consider. If we are relying upon corporations to make smart eco friendly decisions to keep in favor with eco minded consumers (and to save the business money by using less energy etc.) then it seems that it takes the consumers making good choices to make this happen. Therefore you could say that all the environmentalist “heat” helps to power the change even if they are not always on the right track.
The environment is very much in the public spotlight, if that spotlight shifts will the public then lose focus which then will take the pressure of businesses? Or is there now a “critical mass” that is unstoppable? Keep in mind other parts of the world not just us in “the West”.
livingsword,
Great comment. Admittedly, in this blog I was focused mainly on the Denver area, since it goes hand-in-hand with my previous post. I would say that at least around here, we are reaching a "critical mass" of customers who want corporations to do a better job with their resources. I think this is good, not because I am an environmentalist (I most certainly am NOT), but because we should strive to be caretakers of the earth, a role assigned to us by God.
The bottom line is, I don't think it's the government's job to dictate these things. They certainly haven't done all their homework, either, if they haven't noticed that the market is at least beginning to take care of itself.
I don't have a clue as to what should be done in other parts of the world. My guess is that as alternative methods of power become cheaper and more available, people will adopt those.
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