Young people repurposed their leftover coffee beans to grow mushrooms in a shift to become more sustainable. The academy is proactively finding ways to reuse products and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, which damages the environment.
The job market is increasingly demanding workers be able to fill vacancies in sectors related to sustainability and green skills. The majority of businesses are striving to find ways to adapt and become more environmentally-friendly, which has led to the UK’s green economy to be valued in the billions. Young people share the ambition of taking better care of the world around them and show genuine interest in learning about horticulture and taking part in lessons that involve fun practical projects.
The Skills Academy is determined to equip young people with an understanding of how to care for the planet’s future, providing a strong foundation that could potentially be applied to industries like renewable energy, low-carbon technologies and waste management, where job creation is growing rapidly.
Instructors and students are encouraging one another to consider green skills and sustainability in everyday life at the academy. When restocking the barista training supplies for making café-style coffees, youngsters decided to turn the outdated coffee beans into a sustainability project.
Youngsters worked alongside Sustainability and Green Skills Instructor, Joe, to grow mushrooms from the old coffee. Joe explained the scientific process: “A clear container was used for us to see the mycelium colonise the old coffee grounds before sprouting the mushrooms.”
The class discussed how growing mushrooms could become a profitable business – selling the produce to restaurants and cafes that focus on farm-to-table dining; farmers’ markets and factories that manufacture mushrooms to be bought in supermarkets. The lesson successfully inspired young people to think of all the ways different waste products could be reused creatively.
Seeing the coffee beans grow into mushrooms had the youngsters in awe: “You have to see it to believe it! It was cool to actually see a mushroom form in front of us. Normally, fungi live underground but we got to watch it grow.”
As the warmer weather (hopefully) approaches, The Skills Academy is keen to try new and exciting biodiversity projects in the garden.