One industry initiative is proving The Publican is not the only pub trade voice calling for licensees to profit from addressing environmental concerns.
The Publican launched Go Green, Save Money last week, a campaign urging pubs to make themselves more green through simple changes to business practices. At the same time, the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) has hailed the success of its LocAle scheme, which campaigns for pubs to serve at least one locally brewed ale, a policy which it argues taps into customer demand at the same time as being ethical.
Sourcing from local brewers is good for the environment in that it cuts down on transport costs. CAMRA also claims that, in many cases where pubs have swapped a national brand for a local ale, they have seen greater profits.
LocAle started life in the summer of 2007, founded by Nottingham CAMRA branch member Steve Westby. He was motivated by the large number of breweries closing down in his area - Hardys & Hansons, Mansfield and Skipton. This, he felt, was having a negative impact on the beers being made available to Nottingham's pubs.
Not that there was a lack of choice. The likes of microbrewers Nottingham, Mallard, Holland and Belvoir had sprung up to replace their bigger forebears. The problem was the beer tie.
"The few freehouses offering local ales were getting a lot of custom because of it," he says. "Punch, on the other hand, when it bought up one of these freehouses, replaced all the local ales with national brands. Within months, the pub was empty."
So Westby decided that a campaign was needed to shout to the pub trade about how profitable offering local ale can be.
He says: "There is now evidence that the pubs doing it are attracting greater numbers of customers. My local switched Deuchars for a Castle Rock brand. The licensee says it has become his biggest seller."
Castle Rock itself agrees on the value of local sourcing. It operates a brewery and 23 pubs around Nottingham, all serving the company's own beers plus guests. Castle Rock commercial director Colin Wilde says the brewery's volumes are up 10 per cent this year on last, and believes licensees being inspired to switch from national to local brands has been a factor in this. "A lot more of the freetrade and big pubco tenancies are becoming interested in sourcing beer locally," he says.
Whether it's because of concerns for the environment or purely profits, offering beers from your doorstep seems to be working for many.
How LocAle works
Each of the CAMRA branches signed up to LocAle campaigns for pubs in their area to serve at least one cask beer produced by a local brewer. While 'local' is generally defined as being within a 20-mile radius of the pub's door, it is left to each branch to set its own terms.
Pubs that commit are accredited and given LocAle point-of-sale material. CAMRA promotes participants through its own publications and through PR targeting the local press.
CAMRA teams monitor LocAle pubs and de-list them if they stop serving locally brewed beer.