HEIDI SOPINKA
From Friday's Globe and Mail Published on Friday, Aug. 31, 2007 12:00AM EDT Last updated on Saturday, Mar. 14, 2009 12:57AM EDT
We have a freakish certitude about our beer. It's the No. 1 alcoholic beverage of choice in Canada, and with the last long weekend of summer upon us, the population is readying itself to get lushed up. Our recycling record is on par with many progressive European countries
(nationally, 97 per cent of all bottles are reused 12-15 times, and 86 per cent of all cans are returned). But just what are the ecological implications of reaching for a cold one?
HOPPED UP ON PESTICIDES
Farmers are estimated to spray hops 14 times a year with an average of 15 pesticides and fungicides. One of the two primary ingredients in most beers (the other is barley), hops constitute about 5 per cent of beer's total volume and account for at least 50 per cent of the taste. (Beer is not beer without hops, and organic beer is not organic beer without organic hops).
CANS OR BOTTLES
In a comparative measure of the energy demands that go into making glass bottles and cans, based on the electricity required to power a television, the manufacture of one glass bottle requires the same amount of energy that it takes to power a TV set for 20 minutes. Producing an aluminum can takes 180 minutes of the equivalent energy.
ANIMAL-FRIENDLY SUDS
About 2.2 per cent of the European population is reported to have a fish allergy due to the levels of fish byproducts found in beer clarified with isinglass. Guinness (among many other breweries) uses isinglass, which is essentially collagen made from the bladders of fish that causes the yeast and other particulates to clump and settle out of the beer.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Though beer once consisted purely of water, barley and hops, arsenic compounds from pesticides, herbicides and insecticides are among the carcinogens found in most commercial beer today. In the name of the environment (and, arguably, flavour), opt for unpasteurized, unfiltered, certified organic beer, free of preservatives and additives.
Paper-free labelled beer (no trees are sacrificed with paint-on logos) is also a sound eco choice. Ultimately, supporting your local microbrewery will also drastically cut back on the amount of fossil fuels used to truck that beer to your fridge.
Sources: Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, European Food Safety Authority, Statistics Canada, Organic Trade Association
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