Free Public Tour of Innovation Barn

Innovation Barn is running free public tours on Tuesday, October 6, at 932 Seigle Avenue in Charlotte. It's a joint project between Envision Charlotte and the City of Charlotte, which rents the building to the organization for $1 a year. The whole thing is built around the idea of a circular economy—the kind that produces zero waste by reusing or upcycling what would otherwise end up in a landfill.

Inside, there's a lot to see. There's an aquaponics lab with a tilapia tank and an indoor vertical farm, a glass-recycling lab, an apiary, and a mushroom farm housed in a repurposed storage container. They're also producing black soldier flies. Change Please, a nonprofit coffee shop that trains homeless people as baristas, is based there too. The Bulb gathers excess produce from stores and distributes it free to communities facing food insecurity, while Crown Town Compost turns the scraps into compost. Newsweek named Charlotte one of five cities worldwide leading the way to a greener world because of the Barn.

If you want a guided tour, you'll need to register in advance, and spots are limited to 20 people per group. If you'd rather go at your own pace, there's a free self-guided tour available whenever the building is open. Tours run Tuesdays at 1 PM, Fridays at 11 AM, and Saturdays at 1 PM, and they're free.