Editor:
The District of Sechelt’s decision to allow microbreweries and craft distilleries in Sechelt’s downtown core is not sustainable. These are industrial facilities that rely heavily on energy and infrastructure. They are big users of water and power, as well as creators of sewage and byproducts of fermentation. This puts a load on infrastructure that is already strained to provide for Sechelt residents.
There is a more sustainable solution: locate these businesses in rural areas where they can be managed in a sustainable manner. The Bruinwood Estate Distillery in Roberts Creek is an example. Water is sourced from a well on the farm. Wastewater is treated and returned to the aquifer. Spent organic grain from fermentation is used to feed the heritage chicken egg operation on site, making for very happy chickens. The fermenters, instead of being cooled by a rooftop refrigeration unit, are cooled by a geothermal unit that releases heat into the farm’s duck pond. The ducks are happy as well.
Result? Organic grain goes in the farm gate, craft beverages and organic eggs come out. There is no load on municipal water, garbage or sewage and no power consumption for refrigeration.
Think globally, act locally. Bruinwood has shown the way.
Bruce Woodburn, Sandy Hook
