When we said TOCW would have something for everyone, we weren’t exaggerating! Green business startups, climate tech & innovation, biodiversity, nature restoration, energy grid sustainability, batteries, climate communications, hydroponics, EV test drives, a game-based climate literacy workshop, outdoor fun, even a community shoreline clean-up — it’s all on the TOCW event calendar!
And don’t miss EY Four Futures: An Immersive Experience, blending science and AI visualization to show how action today shapes a sustainable future. Following overwhelmingly successful runs at COP28, COP16, and New York Climate Week, this experience makes its Canadian debut at TOCW.
Also in this edition: how spent grains from the brewery process get upcycled into yummy bread and a new “Climate Book of the Week” feature, in collaboration with TYPE Books.
Eat your beer: How food upcycling reduces climate impact
This week we talked to Dihan Chandra, Founder and CEO of The Spent Goods Company, a Toronto-based food upcycler that turns spent barley grains from the beer-making process into delicious sourdough bread, burger buns, baguettes, and pizza — instead of traditional greenhouse gases (GHGs) from food waste.
1. What sprouted your idea for Spent Goods?
About eight years ago, I had this idea that somebody else’s waste could be my treasure. I’d read a bunch of newspaper articles about climate change and wanted to figure out a solution. I founded Organic Lifestyle in 2006, advocating non-toxic living with products like organic pillows and mattresses. Now I was looking into whether I could use my dog’s poo as an energy source to generate power for my house!
During my research, I came across solutions focused on transforming waste into revenue generators. According to Project Drawdown, dealing with global food waste is one of the top three solutions humanity needs to focus on to reduce climate change. I thought, that’s my area. Who doesn’t love food?
One night at my local pub, I asked myself: What happens to all of the grain used to make beer? Then I learned most spent grains from urban craft breweries end up in landfills, releasing GHGs. I knew there had to be a better way — and Spent Goods was born.
2. How does the process work?
In the craft brewing process, once barley has been boiled to release sugar, the grains are considered “spent” and disposed of. Barley is considered one of the healthiest cereal grains and has twice the amount of fibre and protein compared to standard wheat.
Spent grains are typically transported to farms for use as animal feed. Because urban breweries don’t have easy, cost-effective access to farms for non-landfill disposal, that’s where Spent Goods comes in. We partner with craft breweries to divert their spent grains to local bakeries, bagel houses, and pizzerias. In most cases, they’re all within walking distance of the brewery.
3. What impact has Spent Goods made?
In just over seven years, we have:
Sold 176,187 loaves
Diverted 9.7 tonnes of CO2 equivalent — equal to emissions from driving 98% around the Earth (or 39,344 kilometres!)
Supported 14+ local businesses — including these Toronto stores where you can buy Spent Goods: The Big Carrot (Danforth), Blue Collar Bakery, and Karma Co-op (Annex)
For online delivery in the GTA, visit Graze & Gather and Mama Earth Organics
To order Spent Goods for your restaurant or grocery store, visit 100km Foods
Created six full-time equivalent jobs in Toronto
More fun facts:
Every year, approximately 16 million kilos of brewery grains are generated in Ontario.
Spent Goods uses 65 grams of spent grains in each loaf of bread.
If we diverted all 16 million kilos of spent grains into bread, we could produce 247,123,077 loaves — that’s two loaves of bread for each person in Ontario for a year!
Learn more at Spent Goods’ Impact page.
4. What else is happening in the world of food upcycling in Toronto/the GTA?
Toronto has a small handful of food upcyclers. There are people making barley flour from spent grains, and extracting protein to make protein supplements. One bigger company has partnered with Steam Whistle Brewing to make beer chips.
I attended a Canadian Food Innovation Network conference last year in the Niagara region and was pleasantly surprised. There’s a lot more upcycling happening in the United States; it’s a bigger market (see the Upcycled Food Association for info). Fortune Business Insights projects the global upcycled food products market to be worth USD $41.71 billion in 2025.
5. What does grassroots activism look like to you?
Lately I’ve been thinking that instead of trying to “fight climate change”, we shift to focus on local businesses working together to address local solutions — feeding people locally, reducing our neighbourhood footprint, making our local economy more robust. Addressing climate change then becomes a by-product.
There’s a lot of appeal in knowing a product is made locally. We could give a tour of the brewery, the bakery, and the restaurant that carries our sourdough, all within a five-minute walking distance of one another. That’s community action. If you find our story interesting, tell a friend. The Spent Goods team will be at various TOCW events — if you see us, please say hi!
NEW: TYPE Books’ Climate book of the week
Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives
by Siddharth Kara
In Cobalt Red (St. Martin's Press, 2023) Siddharth Kara exposes the environmental and human costs of mining for cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Cobalt is “an essential component to almost every lithium-ion rechargeable battery made today” and the DRC's Katagana region holds most of the world's reserves. Miners, many underaged, are paid abysmally and made to work under dangerous, sometimes fatal conditions, while the materials they gather make their way into the products of companies like Apple, Samsung, and Tesla. Cobalt Red is a wakeup call, reminding us that colonialism, capitalism, oppression of women, and the climate crisis are inextricably linked phenomena. As major corporations promote the overconsumption of tech and try to sell us digital solutions to environmental disaster, Kara reminds us that we ought to remain vigilant, alive to narratives that manufacture consent for indefensible practices and privilege profit over all. We have the power to reduce, respond, and, crucially, to refuse.
Are you an event photographer?
We’re looking for an experienced event photographer to capture TOCW events on October 1, 2, and 3. A per diem will be provided.
Reach out to info@tocw.ca to express your interest; please include a link to your portfolio.
Event submission deadline: September 15 at 11:59 p.m. EST
A friendly reminder that Monday, September 15 is the last day to submit your event. That means five more days to polish your submission, find out everything you need to know about hosting an event at the Host Resource Hub, and fill out the Event Submission Form.
With gratitude,
The TOCW Team