The Plant: Sustainable Business and Experiements

A couple of weeks ago I joined the one hour public tour of The Plant. What an amazing place; its one part urban factory, one part sustainable business practices, and a dash of mad scientist experiments.

This 90,000 square foot building was once the pinnacle of meat packing in the U.S. It was fully operational until just a couple of years ago, Bubbly Dynamics bought the property, which was destined for destruction. They have slowly transformed this urban shell into an experimental space which houses many different business types whose inputs and outputs benefit on one another.

 

Map explaining energy and byproduct flows.

For instance, a bakery inside uses a wood fired oven. A majority of the wood comes from fallen trees on City of Chicago Parks and Recreation sites. The excess heat from the oven goes back into the building to warm other areas.

During our tour we saw an aquaponics set up. For those unfamiliar, aquaponics combines fish farming and hydroponic plant growth. The fish’s waste provides nutrients for the plants, who then filter and aerate the water, which is then pumped back into the fish tank. This cycle can repeat forever. We only saw a demonstration area, the commercial production facility is off limits to the general public in order to maintain cleanliness.

One of my favorite businesses in the building was the Pearl Oyster Mushroom Farm. Bags of straw that have been inoculated with mycelium hang from the ceiling in a warm and moist climate. Each bag creates about 50 pounds of the edible fungi. I took a pound home to try them out and they are freaking delicious, just simply pan fry them in butter with garlic, salt, and pepper until they start to brown and crisp.

I highly recommend visiting The Plant, tours are $10 and they offer two times on Saturdays for visitors. They also host a farmer’s market outside where you can purchase items grown or made on site. For more information, check them  out at www.plantchicago.com.