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What do you know about circular economies*? If your answer is “little” or “nothing,” then here’s your great opportunity! Chicago is home to a unique and impressive entity The Plant – a collaborative community of food businesses focused on reusing waste materials and participating the circular economy.

ISC has teamed up with Plant Chicago, an educational non-profit housed inside of The Plant, with a mission to cultivate local circular economies. Visit Plant Chicago’s indoor and outdoor growing spaces, and learn about the 25 food businesses who are all committed to operating sustainably. We’ll explore Plant Chicago’s research projects, featuring their indoor aquaponic system (raising fish + growing plants in water without soil), algae bio-reactor, mushroom fruiting chamber, mini anaerobic digester, mealworms, and more! Learn about the overall operations of The Plant, partnering companies, and Plant Chicago’s programming.

Led by Eric Weber, Technology Coordinator with Plant Chicago, participants will delve deeper into two aspects of the circular economy found in action at The Plant. Using kits provided by Plant Chicago, discover the science and technology behind aquaponic growing with a hands-on engineering challenge to create your own functional aquaponics system. Afterwards, join Shantanu Pai, member of Plant Chicago’s Research Steering Committee and current Sustainability Researcher at The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, for an insider’s look into thetechnology behind building owner Bubbly Dynamic’s massive anaerobic digester. The digester is designed to eventually provide energy for the building, powered entirely by food waste.

After all the activities, participants are welcome to continue the conversation at the on-site Tap Room of Whiner Beer Company with a variety of beer options available for purchase, along with delicious food from another tenant of The PlantPleasant House Bakery!

Space is limited. $10 discounted tickets for residents of Back of the Yards/New City (60609 zip code). Email info@IllinoisScience.org for promo code.

This event is about zero waste. Be sure to bring your own reusable water bottle!

*In a circular economy, conventional waste streams from one process are repurposed as inputs for another, creating a circular, closed-loop model of material reuse. Plant Chicago, a 501c3 organization, is located in The Plant, which is a project of Bubbly Dynamics.