Mike Mallozzi is the co-founder and president of Borderlands Brewery and the instigator and leader of its Green Team. Mallozzi is from Colorado Springs but has lived in Tucson since 2009, when he moved to take a job at the University of Arizona as a research microbiologist.
Borderlands was approached to take part in the SCALE UP program put together by an organization called Local First Arizona in the beginning of last year. This organization is the nation’s largest coalition of independently owned business, and they were putting together a six-week course that taught business owners how to become more sustainable. One of the classes was about Green Teams and after the program Mallozzi decided to create a Green Team of his own.
The Green Team was created to identify areas where sustainability can be improved in the brewery and the brewing process. The goal is to increase efficiency and become a more sustainable establishment.
According to Mallozzi, the importance of creating these teams and attempting to craft a more sustainable world is pretty much to avoid the worst effects of climate change.
“ten years to avoid disaster. Yay!” Mallozzi said.
Anthony Dito, 21, is a sustainability intern for Borderland’s Green Team. Dito is from Chandler, Ariz. and is a current senior studyingEnvironmental Engineering at the University of Arizona.
Dito has been home brewing for two years and states that this internship perfectly blends both his passion for brewing and for sustainability. He is excited to get a detailed look inside the operations of a local craft brewery and to learn the best methods for sustainability in the industry. He is not only looking forward to learning from the brewery, but also to help it meet its sustainability goals.
For Dito, the most important thing about making Borderlands more sustainable is that it creates an example for other companies in the Tucson area to follow.
“I believe grassroots efforts like this have the power to change public perception, which in turn can lead to larger impacts of the sustainability movement which can slowly change the world,” Dito said.
Sasha Evans, 22, is a sustainability intern for the Green Team at Borderlands Brewery. Evans is from New York City, N.Y. and is currently a junior majoring in Sustainable Built Environments at the University of Arizona.
Evans is a member of the Students for Sustainability Program at the UA, and credits them with helping him find this internship and also his passion.
“The program promotes and initiates sustainability projects on campus and without the Energy and Climate Committee within the program I would not have found my passion for sustainable buildings.”
Evans is excited to be a part of the team because he knows how important energy auditing and building performance are for our built environments. As Borderlands is a part of both the Scale Up Program and the Tucson 2030 District he will get to test what he’s learned so far in a real-world project.
An important part of this internship for Evans is getting to work with the entirety of the energy auditing process as well as waste water and greenhouse gas emissions. Other than that, he hopes to get a good understanding of sustainable brewing practice and a better palate for good brews. Working with Mallozzi will also help Evans learn more about sustainable business practices for the future.
For Evans, the most important aspect of this project is managing water use. He believes that it should be mandatory in Tucson that all buildings and facilities audit and meter their water use because of the city’s precarious relationship with water.
“When it comes to brewing process, water is extremely important and very demanding,” Evans said. “Reducing the water demand of the brewing process for Borderlands will make an important impact and statement about the value of water in our community.”
Sofia Moraga, 19, is the PR intern for Borderland’s Green Team. Her goal is to inform the public about the sustainability efforts of both the brewery and those working on the team. Moraga was born in Antofagasta, Chile but has been living in Tucson for 7 years. She is currently a sophomore double majoring in Journalism and French at the University of Arizona.
Before learning about the efforts behind the Green Team at Borderlands Brewery, Moraga hadn’t heard about breweries trying to be more sustainable. The mission of the establishment caught her eye, and she was excited by the opportunity to be a part of something local that was bettering the community in a way she hadn’t considered before.
Moraga is looking forward to gaining experience from this internship. Not only experience working as a PR specialist, but also working with and in a brewery for sustainability efforts. One of the thing she enjoys the most is getting exposure to worlds she doesn’t normally interact with, so for Moraga, this internship in not only educational for her career, but also her cultural knowledge.
Moraga mentions that for her, the most important thing about making Borderlands and Tucson more sustainable is the power of the domino effect. If one establishment makes a big difference in their sustainability efforts and they get praised for it, other establishments will see their successes and try to do good as well.
“The great thing about Borderlands is that this team is actually very aware of the serious environmental issues happening around the world and are trying to make a real and remarkable change,” Moraga said.