It’s now possible to support the conservation of the Great Barrier Reef by drinking beer.

Little by little planet Earth is going to hell; animal species are killed off, the rain forests cut down, the air and oceans polluted, while the overall temperature and the sea level are going up. And since lots of people make a lot of money doing so, a change in this patron seems unlikely. It frustrates environmentalists and many other concerned people, but what can they do to save the planet? The only right answer to this question came from an Australian brewer: drink beer! The new brand Great Barrier Beer was created to save the Great Barrier Reef at the coast of Australia. At least half the profit of this India pale ale will go to this cause.

James Grugeon is the initiator of this project. He founded The Good Beer Company and partnered up with Bargara Brewing Company to create ‘Australia’s very first social enterprise beer’. Great Barrier Beer comes up with a white India pale ale. It will be brewed at the Bargara brewery in Bundaberg with the use of local products and environmentally friendly methods.

Grugeon’s goal is to raise at least 100.000 Australian dollars (almost 68.000 Euros) by crowdfunding. Depending on how you support Great Barrier Beer, your beers will arrive in March or even Mid-February. At least half of the profit will be donated to the Australian Marine Conservation Society, an institution that tries to conserve the world’s largest coral reef system.

Saving the planet by drinking beer, it could well be the only solution to keep Earth a livable place. Just think of how you react when you are approached for donations: “I would like to save the panda bears, but I also need to pay the rent, health insurance, my mobile phone provider and I really need new shoes.” Yet there always seems to be room for beers in the budget. So have a lager for the oceans or a porter for the rain forest.

As Grugeon said in an interview with the Gladstone Observer: “Not that I want to encourage irresponsible drinking but some people have said to me that they could imagine drinkers saying ‘just one more’ and because our beer goes towards something good they’ll say ‘go on, why not’.”

Micky Bumbar