Sustainability efforts at H&D
TRIPLE BOTTOM LINE
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We at Horse & Dragon firmly believe that all businesses have a responsibility not just to their financial bottom lines, but to their social and environmental ones. We realize that to stay in business we need to build a company that is financially sound. It should be equally apparent that if we don't take care of people and the planet, none of us will stay in business. We didn't enter business to make a profit -- we entered it for love of the product and our community. So we use our product and our dollars to support people (both on our team and in our community) and environmentally sound practices.
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We've got 4 principles underpinning our company.
1. Make great beer.
2. Treat everyone ethically.
3. Reduce our negative impact on the environment wherever possible.
4. Be proactive members of our communities.
Here's what we're doing to address #3. Please let us know if you have further suggestions!
1. Make great beer.
2. Treat everyone ethically.
3. Reduce our negative impact on the environment wherever possible.
4. Be proactive members of our communities.
Here's what we're doing to address #3. Please let us know if you have further suggestions!
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In 2018 we joined newly-formed Good Business Colorado, a business advocacy organization that promotes the values of a strong Colorado economy, a sustainable environment, and thriving local communities. [if you own a business in Colorado, please join us!]
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In 2016 we became an EPA Green Power Partner business, participating in Arcadia Power's Clean Energy Program to offset our electricity usage with energy produced by renewable energy sources.
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LOCAL MALTS, SPENT GRAINS, AND LOCAL AGRICULTURE:
We are members of the Craft Maltsters Guild and have committed to using at least 10% craft malts in our craft malt certified brews. We are brewing some beers with 100% local malts, and are working toward this (it's a steep financial ask, but the grains are fantastic and we appreciate their footprint!).' |
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Every time we brew our spent grain and other organic material goes out to a local farm for use in composting and supplementing animal feed.
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Water: Water is our most important ingredient, and a commodity that will become more and more scarce as the Front Range continues to develop. We are constantly looking for affordable ways to conserve, reuse, and bolster the health of our watershed.
We are members of BreWater, a local organization welcoming all brewers in the greater Fort Collins area to gather quarterly to hear from local water experts, share best practices, and unite on watershed initiatives. In building the brewery, thanks to advice from a larger and long-established brewery in town we committed to an oversized hot liquor tank (45 bbls vs. the 30 we originally planned for) in order to capture and reuse all of the water we use in cooling our wort. That water travels through a heat exchanger to the hot liquor tank and is ready to be used in the next brew or in cleaning the tanks. In our remodel, we installed low-flow toilets and faucets in the taproom and brewery. Our (admittedly super-modest!) landscaping is rife with drought-tolerant plants from the Gardens on Spring Creek (check out this FoCo City Garden -- they are beautiful and a wealth of info from friendly experts). 
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Our still unnamed "giant" hot liquor tank.
The Gardens on Spring Creek are a haven and a wealth of information for anyone living in an arid climate. Check them out for ideas, low-water/drought-tolerant plants, and a bunch o' smart folks full of advice! |
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Horse & Dragon was a member of Climatewise from 2014 (when we opened), through their closing in 2019. We achieved Platinum level membership in 2015-2018. We will continue to work with the City of Fort Collins and local energy and water providers to figure out how we can help steward resources in our business!
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In our remodel to turn our building (originally an airplane hanger) into a brewery we committed to installing all LED lighting, which uses about 75% less energy than traditional bulbs. You can do the same in your home, saving on your electrical bills and helping us all out. The City of Fort Collins has partnered with local retailers to offer reduced pricing on CFL and LED bulbs -- check it out at this link. We also discovered by accident how incredible natural lighting is here in CO, the land of 300 suns/year, because our old warehouse had translucent panels. When we were working on the building, we often worked electricity-less and still had plenty of light. So we added simple "skylights" (additional translucent panels) to the other buildings and love the number of times we can leave the lights off.
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[As any of you who have visited the taproom know, we also managed to keep a few electrical cable spools and pallets out of the landfill, thanks to our friend Jim at Knotty Ginger Woodworks -- who masterminded our wood tables & stools -- and a few beams from an old building as well, which Kyle of Green Chek Solutions used for our bar.]
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One more way H&D is trying to save a bit o' energy...
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Fossil fuels: We do have a gas-fired boiler. Taking advice on how to curb usage there!
A bicycle is definitely the best way to experience the Fort Collins brewery scene! Please bike in and see us. When you do, let us know at the bar that you cycled in and record your mileage -- every quarter we publish how many pounds of CO2 y'all have saved us all by bicycling instead of driving. We were designated a Silver Bicycle Friendly Business (as deemed by the League of American Bicyclists) in 2015. We have allowed our certification to expire (we're happy to talk about why if you want to come on in) but are still members of the League to support their advocacy work and we continue to work on improving our bike-friendly efforts here. We offer incentives to our employees to bike to work. We love the Fort Collins Bicycling community and often host meetings for cycling groups. |
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We've joined the Western Rivers Brewers' Council, a part of the Audubon Society of Arizona, and look forward to becoming more active with our down-river states (and Mexico!) united by the Colorado River.
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RECYCLING:
We do our best, both as a business and as individuals, to follow the reduce-reuse-recycle mantra. The reduce is addressed a bit above, and for the "reuse", our favorite example is growlers. For recycling, we've launched the #unzipwithme and #unzipwithus campaigns to encourage folks to strip down their aluminum (and plastic!) containers before putting them in the recycling. Check out the hashtag on Instagram when you have time.
We are grateful for the work of Waste Not Recycling in Johnstown and we take everything we use in our business that they can accept to them. They also help run the hard-to-recycle yard at Timberline Recycling Center -- FoCo residents, check out this great drop-off site just south of Timberline & Prospect Roads.
We do our best, both as a business and as individuals, to follow the reduce-reuse-recycle mantra. The reduce is addressed a bit above, and for the "reuse", our favorite example is growlers. For recycling, we've launched the #unzipwithme and #unzipwithus campaigns to encourage folks to strip down their aluminum (and plastic!) containers before putting them in the recycling. Check out the hashtag on Instagram when you have time.
We are grateful for the work of Waste Not Recycling in Johnstown and we take everything we use in our business that they can accept to them. They also help run the hard-to-recycle yard at Timberline Recycling Center -- FoCo residents, check out this great drop-off site just south of Timberline & Prospect Roads.
We are happy to serve as a gathering place for people concerned about resource use. If you've an idea for some educational meeting or community effort, let us know!