Here are some articles about the Innovation Barn from around the web.
Making Charlotte more sustainable with the team at Innovation Barn
February 21, 2024
Taking a more creative approach to recycling, reusing, and reducing with the Innovation Barn
The Innovation Barn is continuing its mission of getting more residents to contribute to making the QC more sustainable. QC Life’s Jorge Andres joined Amy Aussieker, executive director, and Daniel Heaton, deputy director, of the Innovation Barn to talk about their various initiatives.
Students take plastic containers and create this piece of furniture
June 7, 2024
The city of Charlotte and a local environmental group Envision Charlotte converted an old city garage into a showcase for all things waste minimization.
The idea behind Charlotte's Innovation Barn is to create jobs, while working with local businesses to reuse waste materials through a process known as the “circular economy." As a comparison, traditional businesses are in a "linear economy" because the raw materials they use turn up in landfills.
Recycling efforts at Charlotte non-profit save 11K+ pounds of material from landfill
April 22, 2024
Today is Earth Day, and to celebrate, the workers at Innovation Barn in Charlotte are doing what they can to keep construction material out of the landfill.
Some items recycled at the nonprofit help make mulch, become Spectrum Center concrete filler, and get used in various art projects.
Cyclists use portable street sweeper to clean up bike lanes
February 23, 2023
“Ramez Tadros has brought innovative technology to Charlotte, which offers cyclists the opportunity to clean up trash from bike lanes.
“You attach it to your bike, and it will clean the bike lane as you ride,” Tadros told Channel 9. The portable bike-lane sweeper is a prototype getting tested around the country. The sweeper uses a solar-charged battery to push debris to the side, which clears lanes about as quickly as you can bike through them. People can get training on how the sweeper works at The Innovation Barn and try it themselves.”
Making Charlotte more sustainable with the team at Innovation Barn
February 21, 2023
“The Innovation Barn is continuing its mission of getting more residents to contribute to making the QC more sustainable. ‘The goal is to be zero waste. So, that is reusing, recycling, and designing with the end in mind to keep everything out of the landfill,” Aussieker said.”
Repair Café aims to empower us to give our broken things a second life
February 20, 2023
“Over the course of Saturday afternoon, a few chairs, a spinning wheel, a purse, plenty of lamps and printers, and a few fans made their way into Charlotte’s Innovation Barn. Their owners hoped by the end of their session, they’d be able to put them to use once more.
It was the city’s first time hosting a Repair Café, which is an informal meeting dedicated to teaching communities how to fix their stuff.”
Envision Charlotte Showcases Novel Circularity Concepts
October 9, 2023
“Charlotte, North Carolina learned several years ago that 88 percent of its waste was going to landfill, which was filling up fast. That was among the impetuses of picking up the pace on a movement starting to ripple across some cities: a transition to a circular economy to keep stockpiling discards with value in use while creating local jobs. And from that aspiration the Innovation Barn was born, a living lab of sorts that serves as ground zero for this work.”