New Belgium Brewery

The New Belgium Brewery in Ft. Collins, CO makes great beer.  We went there for a tasting and got to chatting with one of the folks that worked there.  When we mentioned our project she showed us a wall full of souveniers and holiday decorations that were made from recycled materials – bike gears, six-pack bottle holders, old t-shirts, etc. promoting New Belgium.  They employ 350 people and it seems that most bike to and from work; many of the trinkets they had around were New Belgium-themed bicycle tire patches, water bottles, and winter cycling resources.  She also described how employees from management down to greeters were trained in communication methods with to avoid misunderstandings among coworkers and resolve conflicts productively.  When we tried to get a couple of posters at the register they wouldn’t take any money and told us to “spend the money on beer instead”.  I’m sold.
http://www.newbelgium.com/

We shared our tasting with a good friend who works in a youth drug and alcohol treatment program.  Prior programs he’s worked with focused on taking the youth out of their unhealthy environments, giving them instruction and tools largely through wilderness programs, and then sending them back.  Unfortunately, many of the students were often not held responsible by their caretakers and community once back and relapsed.  The program he is working with now focuses on service and learning within their communities to build job skills and interpersonal tools so that there is not so much of a loss in the transference between the treatment program and their lives afterward.  In his words, a much more sustainable approach.