Being Local is sustainable Most businesses have their own definition of sustainability and how they practice it. At the Red Rooster we’ve adopted the philosophy of “localism,” which means that when we make business decisions we think about how it will affect our community of Hillsboro, Illinois or the wider region of the Midwest. In other words, we want to be a business where people and places matter. We believe this is the best way to be good stewards and practice sustainability. With that in mind, we’re committed to the following:
BuyingAmerican Made
Many people don’t use the phrases “American Made” and sustainable together. We think they’re beautifully intertwined. Think about it this way: materials or products manufactured overseas must be transported here either by air or cargo ships. When they arrive, products are put into trucks and shipped across the country. That’s a lot of carbon emissions. By ordering American we can cut those emissions nearly in half. Our brewing equipment was made by Crawford Brewing Equipment in Rock Island, Illinois who uses American produced stainless steel. Headframe Spirits in Montana constructed our still.
Commitment to Our Area
We’ve got a lot of talented artists and trades people in Hillsboro. When we started our extensive renovation of the building, we hired local contractors and workers. This includes all of the carpentry, painting, HVAC, and electrical contracting.Now that the hotel is up and running, we use local tradespeople whenever we need something fixed. The coffee served at the hotel is bought from the Black Rabbit, a local coffee house who source their beans from fair trade farmers. The Brew Werks and Distillery is committed to sustainable practices when we make our beer and spirits. We buy most of our grains from Briess, a Midwestern malting company who source many of their products from American farmers.We use ozonated water to clean and sanitize our equipment. This allows us to cut both our chemical and overall water usage. As members of our community we work hard to serve people by either being on the town council, volunteering on the fire department or involve ourselves with a variety of local civic groups and charities.
Reusing and Recycling Our Materials
When we started the renovation of the hotel we stripped everything down to the studs. This left a lot of spare bric-a-brac that needed to be used. Wherever we could we tried to reuse and repurpose this material in other parts of the renovation instead of sending all of it to a landfill. On the hotel side we bought organic beds, pillows and linens made from Avocado, a company dedicated to using organic materials while being made in America. Our spent grains from brewing and distilling go to local farmers so they can feed their livestock. Of course, we use LED lights in the building and our brewing and distilling runs are planned in advance so we don’t use any excess power.
Constant Vigilance
In short, in our journey to be a sustainable business, we seek to do the little things right. We’re committed to constantly searching out ways to be sustainable and serve our community. That’s why we at the Red Rooster pledge to always research, improve and change based on the best information on what it means to be dedicated to people and our place in the world.