We are doing what we can to reduce our environmental impact
The team at Portico Brewing believes that its business should be a force for good, especially when it comes to the environment. That’s why we started thinking about our brewery’s impact before we even opened the doors: from locating in a LEED Gold certified building, to supporting local non-profit groups that help protect our city’s natural resources, and even sourcing toilet paper made from 100% recycled content for our bathrooms.
It's all part of what we refer to as our environmental handprint, a net-positive approach to sustainability that acknowledges our energy, material and waste footprints by countering with positive actions that benefit our community and the planet. Here’s a rundown of some of them.
Climate Action
Portico Brewing is an all-electric taproom, brewery and kitchen. To power it, we’ve enrolled in the Somerville Community Choice Electricity program and selected the 100% Local Green option, which relies on renewable energy certificates (MA Class I RECs required by the Commonwealth) that come from solar, wind, anaerobic digestion, and low-impact hydro sourced in New England.
We also track our energy use closely and continuously look for ways to be more efficient.
Come observe Earth Hour with us on the last Saturday in March when the taproom lights get switched off in celebration of our planet and the need to take better care of it.
Reducing Waste
Portico was awarded a Reduce, Reuse, Repair Grant from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) for a Taproom Reusables program that will help us cut down and eventually eliminate all single-use plastic.
Additionally, we offer a can carrier take-back program so that you can prevent the hard-to-recycle packaging from ending up in the waste stream, instead reusing the durable plastic packaging over and over. Our long-term goal is to eventually achieve official Zero Waste certification by ensuring that everything we use at our brewery and in our taproom avoids landfill or incineration.
Stainless steel cups at our water station help us prevent waste
Help us rescue & reuse packaging through our carrier take-back program
Sustainable Transportation
In addition to being accessible by foot and public transportation (Green Line and bus), Portico is in the process of earning a Bike-Friendly Business certification from the Bike League and are supporters or members of the Somerville Bicycle Committee, Boston Cyclists Union, Cambridge Bicycle Safety and MassBike advocacy groups.
Ample bike parking is available outside the brewery, including a Bluebikes public bike share station right next to the building. Multiple members of our staff participate in the Bike Month Challenge every May by ditching their cars and logging as many bike rides as they can.
Healthier Neighborhood
To help our neighborhood enhance air quality, provide shade, decrease the heat island effect and improve aesthetics, various staff members volunteer as Tree Stewards for the Somerville and Cambridge Urban Forestry Initiatives. We’ve adopted, named, and continuously provide care for dozens of newly planted trees throughout our neighborhood.
We also participate in cleanup events by picking up litter on nearby streets several times a year, and we support and partner our neighbor Groundwork Somerville, a non-profit which provides affordable produce grown by youth and other volunteers in what were previously barren lots.
Protecting Local Waterways
We support the Charles River and Mystic River Watershed Associations (CRWA and MRWA) and are members of the Massachusetts Rivers Alliance because we recognize the importance of advocating for resilient rivers and clean water, the primary ingredient in beer.
Portico boards the Charles River Clean Up Boat every summer, taking part in the volunteer-led migratory fish count each spring, has adopted dozens of street drains in the neighborhood, and brewed a special collaboration beer with CRWA called ‘Dam Free Ale,’ which raised awareness and funds for its river restoration efforts.
Green Brewery Recognition
Portico’s efforts were rewarded with an official ‘Green Brewery’ designation from the BetterBev initiative, awarded to craft beverage producers who demonstrate continuous progress towards environmentally conscious production and business practices. We are excited to be among the first breweries in the state honored for such efforts.
Brewery taprooms are an ideal place for gathering. In that vein, we aim to be a community partner and meeting place for any and all nonprofits, community groups, peaceful activists and passionate people with an environmental focus here in Somerville, Cambridge, and elsewhere.
To learn more about our green initiatives, or other ways we are working on decreasing our footprint or growing our handprint, contact our sustainability director, Eco Rob, at ecofriendlybeerdrinker@gmail.com or just ask a staff member what we’re currently up to.