So, if you’ve met me in person, you know that I’m a talker. I love to talk to anyone and everyone about pretty much anything. It’s one of the major reasons I absolutely love bartending. I’m fascinated by people, and I’m genuinely interested in hearing their stories. I’ve made incredible new friends by just chatting to people behind the bar.

Recently we’ve been talking about how to make the world a better place. It feels like a HUGE thing to undertake. How can I, just one person, do anything significant? But on the other hand, how can I not try?

The biggest reason John and I started Trek was to show our little guys that they could do absolutely anything they wanted to do with this life, but that they’d better “use their powers for good.” We’re trying hard to not only talk the talk but also to walk the walk. In August of 2017, I wrote a blog about “The Bottom Line.” We’re still chasing that today.

In case you didn’t go back to read that post, I’ll give you the basics. The premise of the Triple Bottom Line is flipping the negative connotations of the phrase “bottom line.” It does not remove the economics of business from the equation, but rather leverages the economics to also put an emphasis on people and the environment. Triple bottom line puts a focus on sustainability by bringing the economics of business together with a focus on serving people and protecting the environment.

As I’ve been ruminating on this blog post this week, and thinking about how we make the world a better place, I realized I was thinking about that idea of the triple bottom line. How do we use what we have to serve people and protect the environment?

John and I have weekly meetings to look at how we’re doing at Trek. We try to make sure we’re charting our business to follow our mission; to produce exceptional beers and support our community in our family-friendly taproom. There’s that triple bottom line thing again. For us, success is measured not only how profitable our business is, but also how is our business making an impact in our world.

This week I really decided to take a look at the facts, and see where 2020 is headed.

Our service to our community is off to a great start. In 2019 Trek Brewing Company gave over $8k back to organizations in Ohio, making grants to 22 community partners. We were a part of projects that raised over $303k in Central Ohio. In 2020 we’re about to have our 4th community night. We’ve already raised over $1k in funds, and it’s only January.

As for the environment, we’re proud to be Licking County’s Recycling partner of the quarter! We strive to take care of our world by recycling just about everything that we can, including paper, bottles, cans, and cardboard. We have recycling containers in the taproom for staff and customers to use, and we have an onsite container that we put everything into for weekly pickup. We also partner with a farmer to collect our spent grain from the brewing process. The farmer feeds livestock with the grain. This diverts 800-1000 pounds of waste every time we brew.

So, are we going to change the world?… I’ll give that a strong maybe. But, are we going to make an impact on this little corner? Oh friends, you better believe it. Come on in and join our journey. It’s worth the Trek.