SWG3
A favourite Glasgow venue, paving the way for coffee ground recycling city-wide.
Who are they?
There’s never been a campaign quite like Grounds for Recycling, as far as we can tell. But that doesn’t mean innovative hospitality venues haven’t already thought to make use of their used coffee grounds.
Take one of our very own Grounds for Recycling venues, SWG3. They were already recycling their used coffee grounds long before we came knocking on their doors! Currently, they use them to create compost for their on-site community garden, giving new life to urban space and growing produce that feeds their community.
How they did it
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- Barista Bridie showing off the Acid Bar’s used coffee grounds
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- SWG3’s compost bays
SWG3 does it all – they’re a concert venue, art space, restaurant and coffee shop – and now a community garden as well!
SWG3 consulted local food organisation Propagate to find out what kind of garden the local community wanted. They then worked with a garden designer to transform a huge plot of derelict land next to their venue into a newly opened community garden.
The garden has been designed to provide green space for those who don’t have access to it and has over 20 raised beds for community members to cultivate. SWG3 grows a wide range of produce, including peas, beans, rhubarb, apples, plums and plants, to recover the land’s biodiversity. What have all these planters got in common? They’re full of compost made with the coffee grounds from SWG3’s Acid Bar.
Circular takeaway
Some of the garden’s lovely flowers beginning to bloom
SWG3 exemplifies the potential collaborative possibilities between hospitality venues and gardens. In repurposing their used coffee grounds into nutrient-rich compost, they showcase how the value of organic waste can be harnessed to grow food and feed communities.
Learn more
Want to know more? Watch the coffee composting in action down below!
Or, you can check out SWG3’s website here.