Farmingville, NY - Supervisor Ed Romaine has announced that the Town of Brookhaven’s “Brew to Moo” and “Coffee Grounds for Compost” programs are off to a very successful start. The programs are aimed to reduce the amount of local brewery and coffee roasting by-product in our waste stream. Since “Brew to Moo” was launched in August 2017, approximately 50 tons of spent grains have been fed to rescue animals at Double D Bar ranch in Manorville. Local breweries and distilleries produce tons of spent grains which have reduced caloric content but provide protein and fiber that can supplement corn for feed. The Town of Brookhaven will regularly pick up the spent grains and deliver it to farms and ranches to be used as feed for their animals. Using spent grains for livestock feed dates back to the advent of beer, and with corn and other commodity prices rising, the use of brewery by-products is growing. Breweries currently participating in the “Brew to Moo” program are the BrickHouse Brewery in Patchogue, Port Jeff Brewery and the Rocky Point Artisan Brewery. Rocky Point Artisan Brewery has also provided over 1.8 tons of spent grains to Hamlet Organic Garden to be composted.
The Town’s “Coffee Grounds to Compost” program was launched in September 2017 at ACE Coffee Co. in Patchogue and since then, approximately 4 tons of coffee grounds have been brought to the Hamlet Organic Garden farm in Brookhaven that produces organic vegetables, herbs and flowers.
Supervisor Romaine said, “Both programs are great examples of how the Town is working to reduce, reuse and repurpose waste and do what is best for the environment. I thank all the businesses for participating and the Town’s Department of Recycling and Sustainable Materials Management for establishing innovative programs that set us apart from other municipalities.”