(Petaluma, CA) – Lagunitas Brewing Owner, Tony Magee, took to Twitter last night to sound off on the hottest packaging trend of the last couple years: cans.

And he doesn’t like them one bit.

Though cans are championed for their portability, availability in recreational outdoor venues and post-packaging environmental benefits, there is a darker side that brewers do not acknowledge: mining of bauxite. Many have already written about the environmental impact of bauxite mining though Lagunitas may be the first brewer to take it to this level. Here is a just a snippet of a report from Triple Pundit:

In order to remove the aluminum from the bauxite heavy chemicals are needed to dissolve the ore materials from the soil. Sodium Hydroxide, a nasty chemical, is paired with extreme heat to accomplish this task. Five tons of bauxite is needed to produce one ton of unrefined aluminum (alumina). When you consider just how many tons of aluminum are used in the United States alone each year with only a 50% recycle rate, that adds up to a lot of moved earth. And don’t think that the remains from the process are harmless, just ask Hungary which had to evacuate entire towns due to the remaining toxic sludge breaking through its dam. These places are unable to sustain plant life and won’t in the near future.

Aluminums cans, as with anything, have their pros and cons.

New topic: Have u thought much bout Bauxite mining? It's the mineral aluminum is derived from. Funny, but there's none mined in the US. Hmm. — LagunitasT (@lagunitasT) April 5, 2012

90+% of the Bauxite is mined in emerging economies and Australia. Nasty process too. How much diesel do you think is in every aluminum can? — LagunitasT (@lagunitasT) April 6, 2012

…THIS is just the start of how those 'green' cans are made… We'll be last brewery in the US to use aluminum cans… Viva Silica. — LagunitasT (@lagunitasT) April 6, 2012

A can before it is a can…. pic.twitter.com/oi0tvrTW — LagunitasT (@lagunitasT) April 6, 2012

Meet the nice people at Rio Tinto Mining…. pic.twitter.com/ibaL38K5 — LagunitasT (@lagunitasT) April 6, 2012

Oops… made a hole in the world… but the beer is greener! pic.twitter.com/Bl3e0xz9 — LagunitasT (@lagunitasT) April 6, 2012

Then nobody mentions that when Aluminum is recycled a large portion is vaporized when burning off the inks and melting. Glass recycles 100%. — LagunitasT (@lagunitasT) April 6, 2012

Even more- Glass requires lots of energy in the form of heat, for sure. Aluminum requires that- PLUS huge amounts of electrical current too! — LagunitasT (@lagunitasT) April 6, 2012