Sleeman Breweries, one of the companies within the Sapporo Group and a leading brewer in Canada, has long understood that water is essential not only to brewing great beer, but also to supporting healthy communities. Through the Sleeman Better Water Fund, the company supports organizations dedicated to protecting and conserving water resources across Canada. We spoke with Linden Gossen, National Environmental Health and Safety Manager, about how the idea came to life and how it has helped employees connect more deeply with the company’s environmental commitment.
That was the question Linden Gossen, National Environmental Health and Safety Manager, kept coming back to as he mulled over the work of Sleeman Breweries’ Environmental Steering Committee. The committee was formed in 2018 and has done good work so far to reduce Sleeman’s environmental impact. But Linden knows that real change happens when people feel connected to the cause.
Linden believed that Sleeman’s employees were interested in the environment, but the Environmental Steering Committee that he chaired was stuck on how to connect employees with the company’s overall environmental commitment. “When people understand why we’re making the choices we do as a company, they’re more willing to be part of the solution,” says Linden. “But while ‘understanding’ is important, it’s not the same as ‘engagement’ or a sense of deeper connection to the issues.”
Linden has been passionate about the environment for most of his life. “As a young person, I was struck by the presence of litter in my community. My classmates and I were eager to be involved in cleanup projects, but I wondered why the litter was there at all and how to get people to care about protecting the natural environment.”
He turned to Sleeman’s employees to help answer the question.
The Environmental Steering Committee agreed that choosing a specific environmental cause to support would help employees become more interested in Sleeman’s environmental commitment. Linden and the Steering Committee wanted to help people understand the company’s environmental commitment and the choices we can make as individuals to help protect our planet.
The committee started with a survey to understand what aspects of environmentalism resonated best with employees.
According to Linden, “the survey helped us narrow down from a broad scope of ideas to something more specific and tangible that our employees could really get behind.”
The primary ingredient in beer is water, and Guelph, Ont. was chosen as the site of the original Sleeman Brewery in 1834 because of the quality of its water. Through the survey, Linden and the committee noted that employees across Canada saw the value in protecting this natural resource.
He worked with the Guelph Community Foundation, a local organization that specializes in grant funding, to bring the Sleeman Better Water Fund to life.
“The Guelph Community Foundation has been invaluable in helping us clarify the goal of the Sleeman Better Water Fund, and to help us find charities to support,” says Linden.
The Environmental Steering Committee considered the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as they developed the parameters for the Fund. The Sleeman Better Water Fund specifically supports Goal 6 – Clean water and sanitation; Goal 13 – Climate action; and Goal 15 – Life on Land, which includes protection of groundwater.
The Sleeman Better Water Fund awards $40,000 annually to Canadian charities that promote clean water access and conservation. Applications open each year in the fall, and an announcement of that year’s recipients is made in March on World Water Day. To date, the Sleeman Better Water Fund has awarded $120,000 CDN to protect Canadian water.
Canada is a large country – it is 4,700 km from Sleeman Breweries’ westernmost facility to its easternmost facility. For the Sleeman Better Water Fund to truly resonate with employees, Linden felt it was important for projects supported by the Fund to take place in Canadian provinces where Sleeman Breweries has operations. That includes British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec.
The inaugural recipient of the Sleeman Better Water Fund was Living Lakes Canada. This national organization used its $40,000 grant to support four projects relating to data collection. The information collected through those projects will help inform climate change adaptation strategies and water stewardship.
We were very happy to work with Living Lakes as our first recipient because they had great ways for our employees to get involved with their work,” says Linden. Living Lakes invited Sleeman Breweries’ employees to take part in a National Lake Blitz program that allowed employees to monitor their favourite local lakes and report back on factors including water temperature, water conditions and wildlife in the area.
Living Lakes also created a contest for Sleeman employees where they could take photos of Canadian lakes and rivers. In the two years that the contest ran, nearly 100 employees submitted photos.
We were starting to see it work,” says Linden. “Our employees were really connecting with the Sleeman Better Water Fund and showing an interest in protecting Canadian water.
Over the next two years, the Sleeman Better Water Fund supported Fondation Rivieres and the One Drop Foundation. Their projects supported river health in Quebec and well-water analysis in Indigenous communities in Ontario.
As employees learned more about the Sleeman Better Water Fund, they became even prouder to work for the company. “It’s something they can feel good about and that helps them feel good about the company,” says Linden. The Sleeman Better Water Fund helped Sleeman Breweries to be named one of Canada’s Greenest Employers.
Linden is excited about the future of the Sleeman Better Water Fund. “It’s not just making a meaningful impact for the environment,” he says. “It’s helping our consumers understand how committed Sleeman Breweries is to creating a healthier planet for everyone.
Getting the word out about the Fund is a priority for Linden. “The more people know about the Fund, the more applications we’ll get, and the more we can do to help protect this essential natural resource.
