ALEX VILLENEUVE

FOUNDER, CERES SOLUTIONS

ALEX VILLENEUVE’S first childhood memory is of hoeing potatoes in his parents’ “large, innovative garden.” They inspired him to appreciate the work that goes into growing and how waste can be reused. Now, at 21, his passion is sustainability. The culinary arts and brewmaster student was shocked by the amount of waste involved in brewing craft beer. Instead of sending spent grain to the landfill, where it doesn’t biodegrade, he developed a way to use it to grow oyster mushrooms— which is how he discovered it’s high in protein. He started a sustainable waste-removal company, Ceres Solutions, and is turning the post-mushroomgrowing grain into livestock feed. (He’s also selling the mushrooms to a wholesaler.) “I’m trying to stop seeing waste,” he says, “and start seeing opportunities.”

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Take a something-fromnothing approach. “Use vegetable ends to make stock, then throw in leftovers such as rice, meat and veggies for a hearty soup.”