Don't waste your coffee grounds!
@whiteheather39 (24403)
United States
April 5, 2007 3:39pm CST
I found this website as I throw out a lot of coffe grounds and wanted to see if they can be used for anything. Also to give me a good reason for drinking so much of it..LOL
Coffee is the number one drink in the USA and other parts of the world. Do you drink it? And then put your coffee grounds in the trash? Shame on you.
A reader asked if I knew of any good uses for used coffee grounds. The question - or I should say, the answer - took me by surprise, because I can find a use for just about any garbage, but coffee grounds? Other than composting them, I was at a loss.
I'm happy to say that after some intense research and a little experimentation, I now have a much better answer!
Yard, garden, and the outdoors offer a lot of opportunities to use coffee grounds:
Compost them, of course (along with the coffee filter!).
Sprinkle on the ground around plants before watering for a slow release of nitrogen.
It's said that a ring of used coffee grounds around a tree or planting will deter ants.
Take this a step further and ring an anthill with them.
Coffee grounds also help eliminate cutworms. Sprinkle them around the problem area.
Mix them with soil before planting houseplants or making a new garden.
Or just dump them on top of the soil in the pots of houseplants. They'll discourage mites and other small bugs as well as enrich the soil. Don't overdo it for container plants, though, because used grounds contain salts.
Use them in a worm bed. Worms love them.
Going fishing? Keep your worms happy in a container with moist, used coffee grounds.
On the next pages:
Used Coffee Grounds Around the House
Beauty With Coffee Grounds
Crafting with Used Coffee Grounds
Uses For Empty Coffee Cans
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/uncommonuses/a/coffeegrounds.htm
10 people like this
34 responses
@irisheyes (4370)
• United States
5 Apr 07
Wow, I didn't know coffee grounds could help get rid of ants. We have them all over the place as usual this Spring. Ithrew my coffee grounds away this morning but I'll try to use them tomorrow morning. I saw a place where I think the ants are getting in and maybe I can cut them off at the pass with the coffee grounds. It's worth a try. Thanks, WhiteHeather.
3 people like this
@gadget_kat (412)
• United States
5 Apr 07
These are great tips! I'm a coffee addict, so we make about 2 pots of coffee a day. Usually, I just dump the used coffee grounds down the garbage disposer. Now, I will start saving them and applying some of these tips to my garden and backyard.
Thank you!
@AxranraRose82 (1120)
• United States
5 Apr 07
I was told a while ago to put them on the bushes because of the acidity? i think was what it was. I didn't know about the ant thing! I will definately have to try that because besides flies, ants are my worst enemy!
Another thing i found them to be useful for is a scrub! One day I got some on my fingers and on my way to the sink I was absent-mindedly rubbing my fingers together and when I had washed it all off my fingers were soft! So the next day when i took my shower I took used coffee grounds with me and it really worked at making my skin feel soft!
@creematee (2810)
• United States
19 Apr 07
Hmm... I may have to buy a can of coffee just to use in the shower. LOL! That's a great tip!
@GardenGerty (157551)
• United States
6 Apr 07
We put them in the compost, and somewhere hubby read that grape vines really like them, so that is where they are going now, to the grapevines the realtor had cut down, from the house next door. Grandma always threw hers on a certain flower bed, and that is where we always dug fishing worms. I bet on the beauty page it will talk about coffee grounds as a scrub for areas with cellulite. I cannot wait to look at that website. I love coffee. I have a cup of vanilla coffee sitting here now.
@nangkasuy (83)
• Philippines
8 Apr 07
These are great tips on using coffee grounds! Recently my mother and I use our coffee grains to rub ourselves with during bath, to rid of cellulite. I heard it to be a beauty secret of one celebrity and saw it at Ellen Degeneres show too.
We have lots of ants here and your tip with the ants is very helpful indeed!
@hockeygal4ever (10021)
• United States
5 Apr 07
My son will love that he can use them to keep his worms alive for fishing! I've heard of a lot of people using them for composting and that they have tons of good traits, just never knew truly what they were! Great link! Thanks!
2 people like this
@kntcallahan (41)
• United States
5 Apr 07
Coffee grounds in the flower beds make your flowers grow. They can also be used to to make beautiful rose gardens. We use potting soil, coffee grounds, and mulch in our rose garden. we have a beautiful bed of roses.
@happygal68 (3275)
• United States
6 Apr 07
Thank you for all the wonderful tips to reuse the coffee grounds. I too, will start using them outside around my plants.
1 person likes this
@creativedreamweaver (7297)
• United States
5 Apr 07
Thank you so much. I knew that coffee grounds helped rose plants in particular, but wasn't sure about other plants. I didn't know about the ant thing either. I am going to start saving them now. We drink a lot of coffee here so this is great information. You are great whiteheather.
1 person likes this
@kntcallahan (41)
• United States
5 Apr 07
No problem.If you grow vegetables, you can also use coffee frounds. In our garden, we grow peppers, okra, squash, tomatoes, beans and greens. Other than coffee grounds, we also save our egg shells. once the shells dry, crunch them up mix with coffee grounds and put the mixture in your garden area. Plants and vegetables need calcium and protein but they also benefit from egg shells and coffee grounds.
1 person likes this
@lonewolfnan (4366)
• Canada
5 Apr 07
I do not drink coffee,so I have no coffee grounds to use.Is it ok to use empty diet pop bottles instead?(lol) Thank you for from those of us who do have a garden though.Coffee grounds are usually just thrown out by many so hopefully people will recyle them instead .
1 person likes this
@FloatingGum (346)
• United States
6 Apr 07
I take our coffee from work now that the weather is warm and do a lot of this stuff with them. I compost the coffee we have at home, but the coffee from the ktichen at work goes right around our trees and plants once the ground is exposed.
1 person likes this
@Tenerifelynn (575)
•
6 Apr 07
Thanks for the tips! Will certainly pass these useful ideas onto my family and my boyfriend too! They all seem to love thier coffee
Lynn-Marie
@foogirl (87)
• United States
6 Apr 07
Hmmmmm....very interesting stuff there whiteheather!! thanks for the tips. they'll come in very handy especially this time of year with all the planting that goes on :D not that I'll be doing much of it though. Any reason to drink more coffee is good for me.
1 person likes this
@ElusiveButterfly (45940)
• United States
5 Apr 07
I have used my coffee grounds in my compost pile for a long time. It makes the compost nice and rich. Hubby still balks over the compost thing. I haven't gotten him to realize how great the stuff is. He has worked as a landscaper too, you'd think he would want to make our own black gold.
@Lakota12 (42600)
• United States
6 Apr 07
I knew about house plants but I lioke the other things you found to I also put them down thesink the grit helps take the grease away even the little bit that gets down there. amd With used coffe cans can put tin foil around them and make a vase. Use them as ashtrays outside and use them to get rid of the extra greas I pour off hamberger and bacon
1 person likes this
@domesticengineer (576)
• Philippines
6 Apr 07
That's indeed a great information. We love coffee and we are used to drinking brewed coffee because that's a lot more cheaper here than instant coffee. But I never knew not until now that those grounds are very useful. Thanks a lot. Because now our problem with our garden is that it's being attacked by ants and we're really afraid to used any pesticides because it's not really good for our health and for the plants also. I'll check the website you have here for additional useful information. Thanks again. This would really help.
@dlkuku (1935)
• United States
5 Apr 07
I use my coffee grounds for compost, not only outside but in my house plants as well. Eggshells and any other natural waste, like vegetable peelings also work well.
I knew coffee grounds made good compost, however I didn't know about it keeping mites and bugs out of plants.
1 person likes this
@CinnamorollTK (263)
• United States
6 Apr 07
Nice tips! I'll have to remember this since my garden is loaded with ants. I hope they wont destroy my lovely flowers! Perhaps I'll check this site out later on to get more information.
Thanks again for the tips!
1 person likes this
