The 11th annual Garbage-Free February in Red Deer will get underway with a talk featuring zero-waste entrepreneur Alex Villeneuve at Red Deer College on Wednesday.
Villeneuve, who is in his final year in the Brewmaster and Brewery Operations Management program at Olds College, has developed as process that takes the spent grains used in the production of beer to grow mushrooms. Together, the grain and mushrooms can also sprout high-protein cattle feed.
He said since spring his company Ceres Solutions Ltd. has transitioned from a small, pilot-scale system to bigger production. A distributor in Southern Alberta will very soon be selling his mushrooms at farmers markets and to restaurants.
He’s also in the process of registering and trademarking his feed product.
“We’ve got a feed product which is looking pretty good. We’re starting to produce that on a small scale. We’re thinking sheep farmers on a really small scale,” Villeneuve said.
The goal of Garbage-Free February is to ignite discussion around zero waste and help citizens begin the journey towards a sustainable future.
Villeneuve has participated in business and technology conferences over the last few months where he has been sharing his story.
“There’s obviously competition in the feed market and there’s competition in the mushroom market, but nobody has really taken this cross-curricular approach to both of them.”
The free event at RDC, organized by ReThink Red Deer, will be held in room 2960 from 6 to 8 p.m.