Green Beverage Producer Awards

White Lion Brewing, based in Springfield, Massachusetts, earned recognition as a green beverage producer through the BetterBev program, administered by the Energy Transition Institute at UMass Amherst with EPA support. The recognition highlights various sustainable brewing practices, such as sourcing malt and grain from a Connecticut farm and redirecting spent grain to a Massachusetts farm for animal feed rather than sending it to a landfill.

The brewery keeps distribution emissions low by selling within a select area in Western Massachusetts and reduces facility energy use through LED lighting, pipe insulation and programmable heating. Chemical management also reduces environmental impact by restricting wastewater discharge to local treatment facilities.

As craft breweries look for ways to reduce their environmental footprint, White Lion shows how local sourcing, waste diversion and energy-conscious operations can add up to meaningful environmental progress without compromising quality.

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