In the United States there are more than 330 million cups of java consumed each day. That is certainly a lot of old coffee grounds going to waste. When you add in the coffee that is sipped in Canada, Great Britain, Australia, Switzerland, and the rest of the world it all adds up to a whole lot of used coffee grounds hitting the local landfills each year. It is a tremendous amount of waste material being disposed. Tossed into the landfill they are a tremendous waste. They are vegetable matter and should be composted or reused rather than deposited into the landfill where they combine with toxic materials to create more garbage. Recycling or reusing items just makes good common sense. Not only is recycling good for the environment but by reusing these old grinds you may at the same time be able to solve a few household problems that you have around the house.
When you recycle used coffee grinds you help to reduce the amount of trash that goes into your local landfill. That one little basket of grinds may not look like too much material all by itself but when you add up all the used grounds that you create in a year, well it adds up to quite a tremendous amount.
By recycling them you are also helping out the environment. There are a number of ways that you can use your old coffee grinds but the first step is to decide to do it. Within the home they can serve a number of important purposes. Perhaps the most common of these is their usefulness as a room or fridge deodorizer. Just as baking soda will absorb unpleasant odor from the air around it so will coffee grounds.The used grinds can be either sun dried or oven dried and after which they will be ready for use. They can be set in a container or tied up in a used stocking and hung in any location where they are needed. The used grounds can be used for freshening the fridge, freezer, closets, lockers, sneakers, vehicles, tackle box, or any other smelly location. Once they have performed their job there they can then be sent off to the flower bed to to be composted.
Used coffee grinds are an excellent dye for darkening light coloured paper, clothing, or wood. Grounds soaked in boiling water can create a dye for clothing or for re-staining a scratched wood surface. Want to make an old looking treasure map? Well you can do that with lightly moistened coffee grounds or tea leaves. This vintage looking paper is ideal for a birthday, barbecue, or Easter party where you host a scavenger / treasure hunt for your guests to participate in. Used grinds can also be added into dark coloured paints to create a unique look when it comes time to touch up the house a bit.
By recycling them you are also helping out the environment. There are a number of ways that you can use your old coffee grinds but the first step is to decide to do it. Within the home they can serve a number of important purposes. Perhaps the most common of these is their usefulness as a room or fridge deodorizer. Just as baking soda will absorb unpleasant odor from the air around it so will coffee grounds.The used grinds can be either sun dried or oven dried and after which they will be ready for use. They can be set in a container or tied up in a used stocking and hung in any location where they are needed. The used grounds can be used for freshening the fridge, freezer, closets, lockers, sneakers, vehicles, tackle box, or any other smelly location. Once they have performed their job there they can then be sent off to the flower bed to to be composted.
Used coffee grinds are an excellent dye for darkening light coloured paper, clothing, or wood. Grounds soaked in boiling water can create a dye for clothing or for re-staining a scratched wood surface. Want to make an old looking treasure map? Well you can do that with lightly moistened coffee grounds or tea leaves. This vintage looking paper is ideal for a birthday, barbecue, or Easter party where you host a scavenger / treasure hunt for your guests to participate in. Used grinds can also be added into dark coloured paints to create a unique look when it comes time to touch up the house a bit.
In the winter time used grinds can be sprinkled on icy pathways to prevent an unexpected fall. Come spring these grounds will turn into instant fertilizer for any nearby lawn or plant beds. Now how environmentally friendly is that? Much better than using salt or chemicals to prevent accidental slips on ice during the winter months.
If you live in a house or other housing unit which has a yard area then your used coffee grinds are going to come in very useful. Sprinkled onto your plant beds, lawn, or garden those used coffee grounds make excellent fertilizer. They will seep into the ground to enrich the soil. It's so easy. Coffee contains a number of nutrients including calcium, nitrogen, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium so why would you want to put all that nutrition into your trash can?
Your used grounds can help to repel bugs such as ants, slugs, and cutworms so are especially beneficial for root crops such as carrots and radishes that might otherwise be attacked by these garden pests. One tiny creature who is very beneficial to your garden and who loves the taste of coffee grinds is your everyday earthworm. So another benefit to sprinkling your used coffee grinds in the flower or garden bed is that you are going to attract and keep the earthworm population happy.
Coffee can also scare some pests away from your garden. Ants dislike coffee grounds so much that you may be able to reduce their populations within your yard by simply applying regular doses of grinds directly onto ant colonies and hills. Sprinkle barriers made from used coffee grinds around areas where you do not want these pests to venture. Another creature that is not fond of coffee grounds is the common household cat so this method of pest control will also help to keep her from venturing into areas where they have been sprinkled. It is common knowledge that cats love a nice fresh kitty box so letting her know that your garden area is not one may actually be a nice side benefit of recycling the used coffee grinds there.
Used grinds are an item that is all too often thrown out in the trash when they really should not be. When composted or used as a fertilizer they turn back into nutrient rich soil. Recycling and upcycling simply make good common sense.Saving grounds from the landfill you do a little something extra nice for the environment and when you recycle these you may also save yourself a little extra pocket change in the process. Those are pretty good reasons to recycle so do something nice for the environment and give your coffee grinds a second life. Recycle them today.
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