It's Earth Day and Portsmouth Offers A Party For The Planet

Redhook Brewery of Portsmouth and the Green Alliance, which is headquartered in Portsmouth, are celebrating Earth Day on Wednesday, April 22, with a drop-in clean-up and a party, featuring special guest Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream and StampStampede.org. The event is open to the public and guests can enjoy live music and complimentary food. Not only that but $2 from every beer purchased goes to the local environmental nonprofit Hodgson Brook Association plus there will be free ice cream from Ben & Jerry’s.

The event will bring together sustainable business leaders, green-minded residents and Ben & Jerry’s fans. The Party for the Planet is 6-9 p.m. at Redhook Brewery in Portsmouth with a $5 entry fee also going to Hodgson Brook. All are invited but Green Alliance members get in free and clean-up participants get free raffle tickets for every bag of trash collected. 

Green Alliance Director Sarah Brown says, “A business like Redhook is ahead of the curve when it comes to sustainability and is thrilled to be hosting green business leaders, citizens and Ben Cohen. We want folks to connect the dots between responsible business practices and protecting the environment; all three of our organizations share these values.”

“In order to create a sustainable future, we need to put a stop to pay-to-play culture. Progressive green business leaders are part of that,” adds Cohen. “Too often, big oil and special interests use campaign contributions and lobbying muscle to block common-sense pro-sustainability legislation. I’m excited to work with the GA [Green Alliance] community to help stamp big money out of politics.”

Redhook has an extensive facility-wide recycling and composting program, reuses water from the brewing process, and sends spent grains to local farmers. Early in 2015 it began purchasing wind energy credits and recently installed an electric car charging station, high-efficiency lights, motion sensors and EnergyStar appliances.

Tietjen Hynes is head of Redhook's Sustainability Committee and operations project engineer and has coordinated a cleanup for Pease Tradeport, home to a growing number of environmentally minded companies. Developed as a corporate participatory Earth Day activity, a number of companies on the Tradeport have already committed employees to the cleanup. 

“Lots of Pease companies are participating; many of our neighbors are stepping to the plate. We also welcome individuals and have had some smaller green-minded businesses like Aucella commit to both the clean-up and the party,” says Hynes. 

Founded by former Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day was created to publicize the environmental issues of the time. The original focus was to raise awareness around air quality and water pollution. Public awareness is why Hynes felt it important to host a cleanup event in addition to a party. With the help of other Pease Tradeport businesses, Hynes organized the Earth Day cleanup to focus on Tradeport grounds and nearby Hodgson Brook. 

“Hodgson Brook not only runs along the Redhook property, but also throughout the Tradeport and is listed as an impaired waterway,” says Hynes. “Land use and urbanization have degraded the freshwater stream, altered the natural makeup of the brook, and created serious pollution problems. We hope to improve the condition of the brook by reducing the amount of litter.” 

The Green Alliance represents more than 100 green-certified Business Partners and 4,000 community members, working to increase the profits of companies that have the least impact on the environment. Encouraging more sustainable business practices and educating the public about sustainable goods and services is the Green Alliance's central focus. Redhook Brewery has been a green-certified Business Partner with the GA since 2011.

The drop-in Earth Day clean-up runs from 3-6 p.m.. Participants will meet at Redhook to get their collection bags and location, and are urged to pick up as much trash as possible. One ticket for every bag filled will be given to cleanup participants for the Party for the Planet raffle. While Redhook and the Green Alliance encourage folks to participate in both the clean-up and the after party they are also separate events and visitors are welcome at either or both.

Learn more about Redhook at www.redhook.com; for more info on the Green Alliance and to join for free admission to the Party for the Planet, visit www.greenalliance.biz; learn more about Cohen’s Stamp Stampede at www.stampstampede.org.