Sustainability at Wicked Weed Brewing
At Wicked Weed, we strive every day to unite people and enrich communities. We’re taking deliberate actions to positively impact the communities where we live, work, and play. To ensure we take a holistic approach to sustainability, our four Sustainability Principles are Resource Stewardship, Equity, Community Engagement, and Health & Safety. We have made some exciting improvements, but know that we also have a great deal of work ahead. We look forward to learning, growing, and collaborating to improve our positive impacts.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
We are committed to serving our community through financial partnerships, volunteerism, and building a gathering place for all.
We work with core partnerships in the areas of PEOPLE, the ENVIRONMENT, and the ARTS by investing in our local economy and supporting our fellow neighbors.
In 2022 we donated $157,500 to 38 different non-profits including Habitat for Humanity, BeLoved Asheville, Food Connection, and Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project.
Beers that Build
Through our philanthropic wing of the company, Beers That Build works with core partnerships focusing on PEOPLE, the ENVIRONMENT, and the ARTS by investing in our local economy and supporting our fellow neighbors.
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conservancy
Wicked Weed helped protect the 150 acres that will be added to Roan Mountain State Park this year; the 448 acres of the future Chestnut Mountain Park in Canton, NC in 2020; and the 456 acres to connect protected land in the Yellow Mountain State Natural Area in 2019. Speaking of trees, Wicked Weed purchased 6,000 Red spruce seedlings that were planted at two protected locations atop the Roan Highlands above 5,000 feet in elevation. Their contribution also funded staff time, travel, and equipment. In 12-15 years we will see the "Wicked Weed forest" with mature Red Spruce trees thriving, which will support habitat and aquatic life.
RESOURCE STEWARDSHIP
Our production breweries in Candler, NC and Arden, NC are both members of the Environmental Stewardship Initiative (ESI) program, from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). ESI members strive to go beyond the minimum requirements and are committed to setting and achieving sustainability goals and conservation targets.
ZERO WASTE & PACKAGING CIRCULARITY
- Greater than 99% of all waste materials from beer, cider, and wine production are diverted from a landfill to reuse, recycle, or compost.
- Community Recycling drop-off at our Wicked Weed West location. We accept plastic bags/film, styrofoam, paktech lids, natural corks, clothing, and shoes. Check out how it works HERE!
- To ensure our packaged products are diverted from the landfill to better uses, we are engaging our consumers to help us out. We have partnered with both How2Recycle and CIRT to ensure the recyclability of our products.
- Wicked Weed is proud to be the first craft brewery to add standardized recycling labels to our products through the How2Recycle platform.
- We have partnered with CIRT to help consumers understand how and where to recycle our products in their area. It’s super easy – Click on this link, enter your location, and select the product to learn how to recycle it.
Thank you for helping to keep our packaging out of a landfill and reducing our environmental impact.
UTILITIES & CLIMATE
- Efficiencies to reduce environmental impact of beer production (2020 – 2022, per bbl of beer produced):
- Electricity Use: 25% decrease
- Water Use: 14% decrease
- Natural Gas Use: 18% decrease
- 100% of our electricity to brew, packaging, and ship our beers is offset by renewable electricity projects. Go here to learn more: https://www.anheuser-busch.com/community/initiative/renewable-electricity/
- 100% of carbon emissions from our local delivery vehicles are offset using Appalachian Offsets.
- Our Brew Pub, Funkatorium, and Wicked West Taproom locations were recognized by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for their work to reduce their environmental impact. These locations are members of the NC GreenTravel program, which aims to foster sustainable travel practices across North Carolina. The program recognizes hotels, restaurants, parks, attractions and other travel-oriented businesses that demonstrate excellent environmental stewardship.
Ready to Recycle Our Packaging?
Click on this link, enter your location, and select the product to learn how to recycle it:
Employee Engagement
Wicked Weed's Sustainability Committee, the Green Freaks, meet monthly to review sustainability data such as water usage and waste diversion rates and to discuss ways to further improve our sustainability efforts.
Our Internal Environmental Observation and Notification reporting system encourages all employees to report issues such as water leaks or innovative ideas, to further reduce our environmental impact.