Green Initiatives

Since McMenamins' early days, recycling has been handled on a pub-by-pub basis and varies from property to property. We employ two environmental coordinators (one of whom has held this position for more than 15 years) who oversee reducing, reusing and recycling the company's waste. We also work to prevent energy waste and promote energy savings and efficiency.

Recycling:

• We recycle scrap paper, office paper, newspaper, magazines, cardboard, aseptic containers (milk cartons and drink boxes), plastic bottles and jugs, plastic tubs and buckets, plastic bags and shrink wrap, metals (including tin, aluminum, aerosol cans and any other metals), colored glass jars and bottles, block Styrofoam packaging, wine bottle cork (donated to SCRAP, a Portland nonprofit that teaches art programs in the city's public schools), electronic and computer equipment, oil from our fryers and grains left over from the brewing process (which go to a local hog farmer). We can also provide resources for people who are interested in recycling materials from an event they are having at one of our properties.
• The oil we use in Edgefield's Black Rabbit Restaurant is already a recycled product; it's derived from rice bran, a by-product of milling rice.
• We reuse Edgefield wine bottles and packaging peanuts.
• We use copy paper with the highest post-consumer recycled content; menus are printed on paper with 30% post consumer waste.

Composting:

• Thanks to composting programs started by the cities of Portland and Seattle, we are able to recover food items (kitchen trimmings, plate scrapings, meat, bones, fish, dairy products and baked goods) and uncoated foil-soiled paper (paper towels, napkins, waxed cardboard, pizza boxes, coffee grounds and filters). The materials are composted at a facility in Cedar Grove, Washington. The product is then sold as compost and soil amendments at retailers such as Home Depot.
• We divert organic-matter waste at the following locations — Portland: Edgefield, Kennedy School, Bagdad, White Eagle, McMenamins Tavern & Pool, the Chapel Pub, Fulton Pub, Hillsdale Brewery & Public House; and Seattle: McMenamins Queen Anne.
• A portion of our brewery hops and debris generated from the gardens is used in the Edgefield Gardens, which are grown using organic methods.
• In 2009, grape pumice (a by-product after our Edgefield Winery's crush), was donated to the Oregon Food Bank Farm Production Program.
• The chipped wood used for walking trails at Edgefield is donated by local arborists.

Environmentally-Friendly Products:

• We use as many earth-friendly products as possible, from window cleaners to golf course turf products.
• We use biodegradable cleaning products, nonphosphate degreasers and vinegar and water as a spray cleaner.
• We have four company vehicles that use biodiesel, including two beer delivery trucks.

Food Sources:

• Our beef is from SP Provisions, a small Portland-based purveyor whose signature Cascade Natural product line offers naturally fed, growth hormone-free beef, sourced from Oregon, Washington and northern California. Specifically, the Edgefield catering menus feature Cascade Natural prime rib, top sirloin steaks and top round.
• Whole muscle pork (loin, chops, and so on) is sourced almost exclusively from Carlton Farms in Carlton, Oregon, which produces low(er) fat hogs fed on a hormone-free diet.
• Halibut is wild-caught and only served fresh and in season. Wild salmon can be requested for catered events; otherwise, it is farm-raised Atlantic salmon.
• Edgefield's Black Rabbit Restaurant has strong relationships with four local organic growers and proudly features their products.
• Edgefield's catering department uses mushrooms from Hood River Organic. They use organic baby lettuces in salad mix whenever possible. Plated dinner vegetable sides are harvested whenever possible from the Edgefield Gardens (grown using organic methods) or selected from the seasonal offerings of our organic growers. Edgefield is able to prepare all-organic menus for catered events by special request.
• In 2009, the Black Rabbit used 1 ton of harvested fruit and 2.5 tons of vegetables from our Edgefield Gardens for the Black Rabbit Restaurant. Two tons of estate-grown pears were also used in our handcrafted Pear Brandy at the Edgefield Distillery.

Earth-Friendly Brewing:

• Waste products including the "spent grain," used hop flowers, berries and brewers yeast are given to local farmers for reuse as livestock feed.
• Nylon malt bags are collected for gardening, sandbagging and eco-construction.
• Wooden bungs used to seal kegs are chipped into a nutrient-rich garden compost.
• Pallets and slip-boards used to transport kegs are returned to the distributor and reused.
• Five-gallon buckets used to hold everything from cleaning agents to fruit products are reused in the pubs to recycle oil and glass.
• Much of the brewing equipment is purchased second-hand and retrofitted to suit McMenamins' needs. In fact, most of the small-brewery fermenters began their service overseas in England.
• Kegs are purchased from other breweries or industrial recycling plants.