With Arthur Guinness Projects now in full swing, a whole host of exciting creative projects in the areas of Music, Sport, Arts and Food are currently being showcased on www.arthurguinnessprojects.com. Guinness is giving the people of Ireland an exciting opportunity to bring their dreams to life. Together with a mentoring and promotional support programme, Arthur Guinness Projects will invest €3 million in people and their projects across Ireland over the next three years, with up to 20 projects benefitting annually.
The initiative - which is designed to champion and celebrate people whose ideas, passion and spirit are enhancing and shaping our culture and identity - was launched on 26th June. Since then, hundreds of creative people, groups and collectives from all around the country have shared their projects across various social channels, encouraging people to vote, aiming to get their idea trending on the site.
Here, we take a closer look at one of those trending projects; ‘Mushroom City’, the brainchild of Dougie Douglas. “Growing food and thinking outside the box is what motivates me most,” he says. “It’s really something that’s in my blood.”
The Mushroom City process is based on that simple old adage of ‘Waste Not, Want Not’. Based in King’s Inn Street in Dublin city centre, the team use some of the thousands of kilos of coffee grounds that are wasted every week in Ireland as a substrate for growing mushrooms. “When the barista makes a cup of coffee”, Dougie explains, “he only uses 1% of the biomass of all the good minerals that are in that coffee. The other 99% is just cast aside.”
As the coffee grounds are full of essential minerals and necessary elements for the Oyster mushrooms, Mushroom City takes this waste and turns it into local food, benefitting both the environment and the local community, as well as changing attitudes.
“To be able to collaborate with the Arthur Guinness Projects will hopefully bring the project beyond expectations”, says Dougie. “It will certainly send it out further across the nation. On a worldwide scale, Arthur Guinness certainly carries a lot of clout - so I think it’s a win-win situation for everybody.”
For more on the Arthur Guinness Projects cultural initiative, visit http://www.arthurguinnessprojects.com
ENDS
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About The Arthur Guinness Projects
The Arthur Guinness Projects initiative will invest in, promote and champion Irish creators, visionaries and innovators, thus helping to turn people’s aspirations and ideas into actions and achievements.
This groundbreaking programme initially sets out to support and promote four areas of Irish talent, creativity and culture: MUSIC, SPORT, ARTS and FOOD.
GUINNESS & Co. will invest 3 million euro over the next three years in the Arthur Guinness Projects initiative. In addition to funding, there will also be a comprehensive mentoring and promotional support programme which will benefit up to 20 awardees annually and which will have a positive impact on the wider community.