Want to help save an endangered species? Crack a beer.
But not just any beer. Sustainable craft brewery Pure Project is releasing Noc-Turtle, an IPA crafted to raise funds for efforts to protect the endangered Eastern Pacific leatherback sea turtle.
The turtles nest along the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico, where the species has suffered an alarming population decline.
Pure Project has partnered with WILDCOAST for the effort, a nonprofit that was co-founded by surfer and former Imperial Beach mayor Serge Dedina in 2000 to protect ecologically sensitive coastal wildlands, islands and marine areas in California and Baja California.
Today, WILDCOAST frequently collaborates with companies to help the environment, such as their campaign to save Olive Ridley sea turtles.
Having heard of this campaign, Pure Project’s marketing director Makenna Barris said they wanted to find a way to collaborate with the nonprofit on another project.
“With the success of their original campaign, it sounded like a really cool thing to help support and spread the word about,” Barris said. “We brainstormed ways that we could help, and that’s how the beer idea came about.”
Pure Project started in 2013, when San Diego natives Jesse Pine and Mat Robar came up with the idea to open a craft brewery in Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica.
However, they ended up moving the brewery to San Diego, where they remain. To this day, the company still prints the same message on all of their cans and bottles: “For those who believe that quality ingredients and attention to detail matter.”
The brewery said that their collaboration with WILDCOAST seemed like a perfect opportunity, given their commitment to sustainability. Barris said it took a lot of work to launch, but it was worth it.
“We have a very robust calendar of new beers we release, so we’re promoting a lot of beers all the time, and this one took a little extra love,” she said, adding that the brewery enjoyed the process of telling the story about their collaboration. “Creating an education piece on our website about it, sharing it with the press, and we also hosted a launch event to coincide with the beer release… it helps when it was such a cool story too.”
Barris hopes that their collaborative beer is a step that people are willing to take to improve the world and help leatherback sea turtles.
“I want them to walk away with a sense of hope because there’s a lot of difficult news right now, and this is a way to help even if it feels small,” Barris said.
“I also know that WILDCOAST has done it once before, and they can do it again. These initiatives do make a difference.”
Partnering with WILDCOAST on this project felt like a tangible step toward not just creating hope for a better future, but actively participating in creating it. From coastal cleanups to marine conservation, community-driven actions can have real effects.
“We believe in using beer as a force for good,” Barris said. “We have always aligned our efforts with the ethos of giving back to the environment and supporting environmental causes, so this all aligned very naturally for us.”
If you would like to help Pure Project’s next mission, the brewery is collaborating with Handel’s Ice Cream, Carlsbad Village, and Baba Coffee for a community cleanup event from 9:30-11:30 a.m. on Nov. 8.
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