For the past six months, owner of Dusty Lizard Brewing Nathan Harris has looked on as what used to be a car wash next door to his brewery has been turned into an urban farm.
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Now, he's getting involved and finding a very local way to use up a product that would otherwise go to waste.
One of the main byproducts of brewing beer is spent grain.
After the barley is crushed and mashed to extract the protein, sugar and nutrients, the left-behind product becomes a waste that brewers have to deal with.
Previously, Mr Harris was sending off his spent grain to a farm as feed, but as Illawarra Hotel publican Ryan Aitchison set up the Smiths Street Distillery and Vinery, a new destination for the product was found.
Mr Harris, along with other hospitality businesses, are providing green waste for compost and as feed for the six chickens which now inhabit the Smith Street farm.
"I've been watching what Ryan's been doing, creating that space in town," he said. "This is just another way to keep our waste out of landfill, and give it back to the environment."
For now, one load of spent grain a month is going to the chickens next door but Mr Aitchison said he's looking for more local hospitality businesses to come on board.
"We've found ourself in a position now where we can take on close to 2000 litres of green waste," he said. "Through the hotel we won't come close to that, so it's created an opportunity to reach out to surrounding businesses."
The green waste will be used to imbue the soil with nutrients. As a former car wash, the site isn't exactly brimming with lush soil to grow produce, but with Wollongong's climate ideal for growing herbs and vegetables and the combined nutritional value of the city's bars, cafes and restaurants, Mr Aitchison thinks the land is about to thrive.
"The environment is actually there, and it's really cool to re-imagine spaces and if we put the right amount of compost in here and the right amount of love, that we can get a decent yield that will be able to supply not just one pub, but other restaurants and venues like that as well."
Mr Aitchison, along with wife and partner Nikki Aitchison, sustainability manager Liam Fraser and other pub staff have been tending to the plot since earlier this year.
Initially, Mr Aitchison said he expected the farm to be a money sink, but it has already paid dividends. Already, the farm is helping the pub keep lettuce in its burgers and the cost of fresh produce has skyrocketed.
"It's put us in a position where we could serve green oak lettuce when none of the wholesalers were carrying any," Mr Aitchison said.
Currently the land is being replanted to prepare for a summer crop of tomatoes and zucchini flowers. An application for a distillery on the same site is also underway.
Mr Aitchison said he hopes the project encourages other pubs to think more about what they could do to become more sustainable but in the meantime is reaching out to other hospitality businesses to donate food scraps, coffee grounds and spent grain, and is happy to provide locally grown produce in return.
For his part, Mr Harris is looking over the fence and thinking about what else might come out of the farm.
"We could definitely use something from the farm and create some sort of beer," he said. "Doesn't get any fresher than that."
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