Anheuser-Busch Expands Partnership with River Network to Host Nationwide Virtual Environmental Clean-Up in Honor of World Water Day

From Anheuser-Busch:

Building on their long-standing partnership with River Network, the brewer is asking colleagues, suppliers, partners and consumers to join in its mission to protect watersheds in communities around the country.

March 22, 2021 – Anheuser-Busch is teaming up with River Network – a national non-profit focusing on strengthening local, regional and national river and watershed conservation efforts – to host a national virtual environmental clean-up challenge to help build healthier watersheds and stronger communities.

Since 2002, Anheuser-Busch and the Anheuser-Busch Foundation have partnered with River Network to support the non-profit’s mission through annual employee clean-up events at more than 20 Anheuser-Busch facilities in the United States.

This year, in addition to clean-up events at their facilities, the brewer will encourage partners across its value chain – including 19,000 employees, wholesaler partners, and consumers – to join the “Anheuser-Busch Seed to Sip Clean-Up Challenge” to protect and restore community watersheds. 

“In order for sustainability initiatives to truly make a positive impact, we need everyone working together towards a common goal – protecting our environment,” said Ingrid De Ryck, Chief Procurement and Sustainability Officer at Anheuser-Busch. “Over the past year, we have seen first-hand how truly passionate our employees and partners are about supporting the initiatives that strengthen communities.  By leveraging the reach of our network to protect our watersheds, we can maximize our impact on the ground in local communities across the country.”

Running from World Water Day on March 22 to World Environment Day on June 5 through the app Litterati, the virtual event will challenge employees, partners, and consumers, aged 21+, to go out in their community and log the litter they pick up in the Litterati app. 

To join the clean-up, individuals can download the Litterati app and create an account. Once in the app, the participant can join the challenge with the code, “AB2021” ​and then start picking up litter and recyclables.

Each week, consumers who tweet a photo of their litter clean up and tag @AnheuserBusch with #SeedtoSip and #Sweepstakes will also be entered to receive a special Anheuser-Busch merchandise as a thank you for participating.*

Anheuser-Busch’s long-standing partnership with River Network builds on the brewer’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and water stewardship including its 2025 Sustainability Goal to engage 100% of its facilities in water efficiency efforts and helping to measurably improve water availability and quality of its communities in high-stress areas.

“Anheuser-Busch is a star in the business world, driving action at the community and individual level that will help achieve a future with clean water and healthy rivers for all,” according to Nicole Silk, President and CEO of River Network. “Everyone wants this future, but the only way we are going to get there is if it becomes everyone’s business. This partnership is a fabulous model of how we do just that by working together side by side – local groups, national nonprofits, the business community, and others.”

Over the last ten years, the partnership has hosted 185 river clean-ups and community restoration events, engaging 50+ local non-profits to mobilize more than 55,000 volunteers who planted over 68,000 trees and removed over 1 million pounds of litter.

ABOUT ANHEUSER-BUSCH

For more than 165 years, Anheuser-Busch has carried on a legacy of brewing great-tasting, high-quality beers that have satisfied beer drinkers for generations. Today, we own and operate more than 120 facilities, including breweries, wholesaler distribution centers, agricultural facilities and packaging plants, and have more than 19,000 colleagues across the United States. We are home to several of America’s most recognizable beer brands, including Budweiser, Bud Light, Michelob ULTRA and Stella Artois, as well as a number of regional brands that provide beer drinkers with a choice of the best-tasting craft beers in the industry. From responsible drinking programs and emergency drinking water donations to industry-leading sustainability efforts, we are guided by our unwavering commitment to supporting the communities we call home. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. 

ABOUT RIVER NETWORK

River Network empowers and unites people and communities to protect and restore rivers and other waters that sustain all life. We envision a future with clean and ample water for people and nature, where local caretakers are well-equipped, effective and courageous champions for our rivers. We believe that everyone should have access to affordable, clean water and healthy rivers.

*ANHEUSER-BUSCH SEED TO SIP CLEAN UP CHALLENGE.  No Purchase Necessary.  Open to US residents who are 21+.  Begins 3/22/21 and ends 6/5/21.  Multiple entry period.  See Official Rules at https://www.anheuser-busch.com/seed-to-sip-challenge.html for entry deadlines, prizes and details.  Message and data rates may apply.  Void where prohibited.

Anheuser-Busch Foundation Provides More Than $1.8 Million for The Nature Conservancy Projects That Promote Healthy Rivers in the American West

The grant aims to improve water quality and availability in Fort Collins, Colorado, and Los Angeles, California through three key TNC projects

MARCH 22, 2021 – In celebration of World Water Day, the Anheuser-Busch Foundation today announced a 3-year grant to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) – totaling over $1.8 million – to help increase the quantity and improve the quality of water available to nurture natural ecosystems and communities in the western United States.

The collaboration, which began in 2019, specifically aims to improve the health of river systems important to the communities of Fort Collins, Colorado and Los Angeles, California through conservation projects along the Cache la Poudre (“Poudre”), Big Thompson, Los Angeles, and Colorado Rivers.

“The Anheuser-Busch Foundation is proud to support the work of The Nature Conservancy in protecting our watersheds,” said Julio Suárez, Anheuser-Busch Foundation. “By investing in this critical resource that helps to sustain growing cities, farms, businesses, and ecosystems, we can help build stronger, more resilient communities.”

Supporting these projects builds on AB InBev’s global partnership with the Nature Conservancy and aligns with the brewer’s 2025 Sustainability Goals including its water stewardship goal that commits to have 100% of its facilities engaged in water efficiency efforts and 100% of its communities in high-stress areas having measurably improved water availability and quality.

“As a leading brewer, water is at the center of everything we do – from nurturing the raw materials provided by our growers across the country to being a key ingredient in the beers we proudly brew,” said Ingrid De Ryck, Chief Procurement and Sustainability Officer at Anheuser-Busch. “Working alongside the Anheuser-Busch Foundation, we are proud to strengthen our watersheds by championing water stewardship efforts across our supply chain – from seed to sip.”

Around the world, TNC’s collaboration with AB InBev and the Anheuser-Busch Foundation is improving vital freshwater sources for the communities and ecosystems that depend on them.

“At TNC, we recognize the important role that companies like AB InBev and the Anheuser-Busch Foundation can play to help meet the world’s most pressing conservation challenges—especially those related to water,” said Andrea Erickson, Managing Director for Water Security at The Nature Conservancy. “TNC’s on-the-ground conservation work is helping improve the health of river systems in the United States while delivering water quantity and quality benefits to high water-risk communities that need it most.”

In Fort Collins, Colorado, TNC strategically manages nearby forests to reduce the risk of damaging wildfires, which threaten water security, water quality, wildlife habitat, and local communities. With support from Anheuser-Busch Foundation, TNC has restored roughly 829 acres of forests in both the Poudre and Big Thompson watersheds, benefitting an estimated 2.3 billion gallons of water annually.  Additionally, TNC has provided trainings to 56 fire management professionals, helping to bolster capacity for forest and fire management, as well as wildfire response, among partner agencies and organizations.

Through this grant, TNC is also working in the Colorado River basin to balance the demand of water uses and over-allocated supply in order to achieve long-term water security for people and nature.

The Colorado River, which supplies water to both Fort Collins and Los Angeles is the most stressed, diverted, and dammed river in the nation, and it is in the midst of a growing water scarcity crisis. The Anheuser-Bush Foundation has helped enable work to improve flows on 1,352 river miles and launch local community projects that test new technologies and partnerships to lower use and allocate more water to nature, while supporting communities at the same time. 

In Los Angeles, TNC is piloting a project to demonstrate the ability of green infrastructure and natural habitat to help manage stormwater, improve water quality, and create a healthier urban environment for nature and people. Support from the Anheuser-Busch Foundation is helping advance an on-the-ground demonstration project within the Los Angeles River watershed that uses vegetated nature-based solutions, including a constructed two-acre wetland, to filter and clean stormwater before it enters the river. The project provides stormwater management, water quality, native habitat, and community engagement benefits in single urban location.

About The Anheuser-Busch Foundation
Established in 1975, the Anheuser-Busch Foundation focuses on supporting organizations that help individuals and communities thrive. The Foundation contributes to countless community organizations every year in support of disaster preparedness and relief, economic development, education, environmental sustainability, military personnel and responsible drinking. Anheuser-Busch and its foundation are united by an unwavering commitment to supporting the communities that they call home and over the last 30 years, Anheuser-Busch and the Anheuser-Busch Foundation have donated more than $600 million to charitable organizations across the country. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.   

About The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more sustainable. Working in 72 countries, we use a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit www.nature.org or follow @nature_press on Twitter.