Does a Wind-Powered Butcher Cancel Out Meat’s Carbon Footprint?

A Michigan butcher says that having his own wind-power plant could have a positive long-term economic benefit and help to ensure the future sustainability of his family business.

Earl Bosch, owner of Earl’s Meats in Holland, Michigan, says he wouldn’t consider himself an environmentalist, but he also says he is looking to alternative energy to power his meat cutting shop.

He’s not your typical green-power enthusiast. He’s 54 year-old butcher with 35 years in the industry, not a treehugging vegetarian. But he’s starting to see the light.

Bosch has already purchased solar panels for the roof, and now he’s ready to invest $140,000  in wind turbines in order to fully power his business from green energy sources.

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His electric bills last summer were $2,300 per month to power the freezers and refrigerators in his shop, so Earl’s willing to put up the cash for two 20-kilowatt wind turbines on his property to supply electricity for his shop. If he succeeds, he may be the first person in his city to be fully powered with green energy.

The Planning Commission in Holland is currently accepting comments on a proposal to allow businesses and homeowners to put up wind turbines on their property to supply some of their power. The public hearing takes place in January.

Meat is kind of a taboo topic in environmental circles, even with studies showing that meat consumption has a big role in greenhouse gas emissions (Cows worse than cars).

For a butcher to power his meat-cutting operation with green energy, it just makes the line between eco-friendly and greenwashing that much fainter.

Does the wind-energy offset the greenhouse gas emissions from the meat production and consumption?

What do you think?

Source: mlive.com

Image: rhosoi at Flickr under Creative Commons License

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