Climate for Action: New Uses for Used Coffee Grounds
Posted on February 24th, 2009 - 10:30 AMAbout the Author: Loreal Crumbley, a senior at George Mason University, is an intern with EPA’s Environmental Education Division through EPA’s Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP).
Many of you may be looking for effective green tips. One tip I can offer you is to recycle used coffee grounds. Coffee mixed with soil can be used as a natural fertilizer. Used coffee grounds provide gardens with an abundant source of nutrition. Recycling coffee grounds is not only beneficial for gardeners but it helps in reducing the amount of waste going into landfills. When coffee grounds are dumped into landfills they create methane, which is a greenhouse gas. Methane is known to be more harmful than carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas that causes global warming. If we are able to keep coffee grounds out of landfills we’ll be one step closer to eliminating greenhouse gas emissions.
Coffee grounds contain a high amount of nitrogen. When scattered across soil before rain or watering they will slowly release nitrogen into the soil. When compost is mixed with coffee grounds it causes the soil temperature to rise and stay hot for long periods of time. The high temperature kills weeds and will allow your garden to flourish beautifully. Coffee grounds are acidic, which benefits “acid loving” plants. For instance roses, camellias, blueberries, and azaleas all flourish when sprinkled with coffee grounds.
Recycling coffee grounds also helps to feed worms, and keeps troublesome insects away. Earthworms love to feed on used coffee grounds; it helps them grow and reproduce. Having lots of worms is an excellent way to keep a healthy garden. It is important to have worm activity in your soil; this mixes the soil and helps in mineralizing your vegetation. As you all know the odor of coffee is very strong, the odor can sometimes be too strong for humans. In the case of insects like ants, slugs, and snails the odor works as a repellant.
There are many places you can find used coffee grounds. Some good suggestions include local coffee shops, gas stations, schools, or your workplace. You could ask coffee vendors to save coffee grounds for you, and coordinate a time to stop by and pick up your “green fertilizer.”
Other uses for coffee grounds:
- Can be used to dye paper or clothes
- Can retouch furniture
- Can be used as flea repellant, rub on pets (dog, etc.)
- Can repel odors around the home
- Can be used when cleaning grease
Learn more about recycling used coffee grounds, and remember recycling is one way we can keep our environment natural and beautiful!
Tags: Climate for Action, coffee grounds, recycling
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Question of the Week
February 24th, 2009 at 5:40 pm
I have a question. At home we brew Arabic coffee which is basically the very fine coffee grounds, the cardamon and sugar all boiled together. I would love to use those coffee grounds in the garden, but won’t the sugar just attract a bunch of ants? Can I still use them?
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February 25th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
I’ve been saving my own coffee grounds (and scrounging up extras whenever I can) for years. You’re right about the benefits, especially for roses. I only drink one cup a day, so I don’t have lots of grounds to add, but every little bit helps. Remember too that unbleached coffee filter paper is also compostable, as are used tea bags.
Lina, you should still be able to use your coffee grounds; try adding them to your home compost heap (or worm box if you have one). The heat of the compost should keep the ants at bay. If not, try rinsing the grounds with clear water first, maybe by layering a coffee filter or fine cotton cloth in a sieve. Once you’ve rinsed out the sugar, you should be pest-free.
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February 25th, 2009 at 4:58 pm
This is very interesting! I will pass this information along to everyone I know with a garden. We all need to do little things like this to protect our environment as well as our lives.
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February 26th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
It’s good to know that there is a place for coffee grounds to go to when disposed. As an avid coffee drinker as well as somewhat of an environmentalist, I feel really good knowing that by recycling coffee grounds, our worms will be able to reproduce, which will keep away the other harmful insects to one’s garden. There is a continuous and growing problem with landfills, especially ones that have been so poorly handled that they catch on fire and become detrimental, and a simple step like recycling coffee grounds will help prevent those fires. I am someone who makes coffee almost every day, and knowing how much coffee this country consumes along with me making my own really makes me think that there has to be something else to do with those used coffee grounds rather than just throwing them in the trash. With these hard economic times, it is also more economically friendly to use used coffee grounds to clean up the grease left on the stove from the night before, or instead of buying that expensive formula to get rid of fleas on your cat for one time, why not just use your used coffee grounds to do so? I am very glad that the EPA bloggers with Greenversations picked this up and gave these great tips. Recycling does not seem that serious, but if we really take the time to recycle correctly by separating our plastics from papers, glasses from everything else, and putting to use our used coffee grounds rather than throwing it with all of the other litter, we will be able to help our climate little by little. The hope is that people will listen. And who doesn’t love the smell of coffee beans if you need something to fix that odor in your house?
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February 28th, 2009 at 10:28 am
I’m thrilled to see this kind of information appear in this agenda.
My husband and I have used organic methods in our vegetable garden and yard for over 25 years. We regularly use coffee grounds in both our compost and in our raised beds.
I also use them in my verimcomposting tubs, and the worms love them.
I also use shredded black and white newspaper in most of these areas as well. I use that as bedding in my worm bins instead of peat moss which is now facing some environmental challenges. We regularly layer shredded wet newspaper (black & white only) in our compost bins and I use it between my vegetable rows along with a layer of shredded grass and leaves to act as a footpath. It helps control the germination of weed seed and helps to retain moisture to the vegetable plants.
Great to see these type of methods finally get some positive attention.
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March 3rd, 2009 at 8:23 am
As a class we came up with the following comments and questions:
I was unaware that coffee grounds could be used to repel insects. I’m going to try and use coffee grounds to repel japanese beetles.
Are there any type of coffee grounds you should not use?
Are there any insects that are not affected by coffee grounds?
What does the caffeine do to worms?
Does anyone actually use coffee grounds as a flea repllent?
Are there any negative health effects with putting coffee grounds in the soil of a garden?
This is a good and easy way to use something to help the environment that is normally thrown away.
If coffee is good for the gardens, why is it not good in a landfill?
Please note that this is the response from nine students after reading the article. We are interested in any answers and thoughts about our questions and comments.
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