Wild Wolf Brewing Company received the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Gold Medal Award for their Every Day is Earth Day Sustainability Program on Thursday April 5^th through the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Awards. This category is intended to provide recognition to organizations or facilities that can document the success of their sustainability program by providing evidence of a culture of environmental sustainability, recent accomplishments related to reducing their environmental footprint and a commitment to future sustainability-oriented actions.

“We work hard to implement sustainability programs throughout our business and are proud to be recognized for this prestigious award,” says owner, Mary Wolf. “We strive to raise the bar for environmental excellence throughout our community and industry by adopting and creating sustainability programs that make our community and earth a better place.”

Wild Wolf Brewing Company is a small production brewery and a 450-seat restaurant situated on ten acres in Nelson County. The management team has keenly focused on brewery waste and found ways to recycle all packaging, allowing the brewery to be considered a zero-waste facility. Wild Wolf Brewing Company is the first brewery in the Commonwealth to package all flagship beers in cans rather than bottles. All of its beer sold inside and outside the brewery is packaged in recyclable containers and/or reusable vessels, which has also greatly reduced the weight of the shippable product. Pack-tek carriers and cans are used for beer packaging; both are made of 80% or more recycled materials.

With no recycling pick-up options in Nelson County, cardboard, glass, metal and plastic materials are collected and brought to a recycling facility. In addition to minimizing their own waste, Wild Wolf Brewing Company also provides an incentive for its customers to recycle by offering Wild Wolf bucks in exchange for clean bottles.

A program Wild Wolf Brewing Company has been rapidly expanding is their compost program. In the kitchen, scraps are used in the composting system which yields nutrient rich soil for the herb and vegetable garden. These practices, in addition to many others, ensure that nothing goes to waste at Wild Wolf Brewing Company.

“We look forward to growing our programs in the future and educating others on how these programs can be implemented to make every day earth day,” says Wolf.