Blue Mountain Brewery, Afton, Va., partnered with GreenTrees, of The Plains, Va., to plant 8,703 trees in the Mississippi Alluvial Valley.
With every pull of the tap handle a tree was planted during the one-week Ales to Acorns program. The goal of Ales to Acorns was to provide patrons of Blue Mountain Brewery the opportunity to celebrate Earth Week in a way that made a material impact on the world and at the same time highlight the interconnectedness of beer, water, trees, and climate change.
Mandi Smack of Blue Mountain Brewery said, “we were thrilled to team up with GreenTrees and the Arbor Day Foundation for the Ales to Acorns fundraiser. Since opening in 2007, we have been very conscious of how our operations affect Mother Earth. This was by far the biggest and most successful fundraiser we have done at Blue Mountain. We hope that our contribution will help offset the impact our business has on this beautiful Earth.”
Customers also had the opportunity to make additional contributions to plant even more trees than those associated with the beer they purchased in Blue Mountain Brewery’s taproom. On two evenings patrons were treated to a viewing of the Emmy-winning film, “Chasing Ice”, which chronicles, through time-lapse photography, the extreme impacts of climate change on glaciated regions around the world. “I walked away from the event having had a good time and learned so much. I wish there were more opportunities like this,” Commented one attendee at the Ales to Acorns event.
By connecting beer sales with tree planting consumers have the power to change the world for the better just by enjoying their beer of choice. Collectively, all of those actions make a big impact. “It is our hope that more businesses will follow the lead of Blue Mountain Brewery in offering consumers a way improve the health of our environment in the normal course of business,” said Sarah McDonough GreenTrees marketing director.