What to do with your leftover coffee grounds…
Published
14th November 2014
14th November 2014
It’s no surprise to hear that coffee is now one of the most popular beverages in the world, indeed it seems that the corporate business world runs on coffee! Millions of coffees are sold each morning across the globe and the coffee industry is one of the most lucrative on the planet.
It’s sometimes purchased on the way to work from the well-established outlets such as Starbucks and Costa Coffee, but a popular alternative is the do it yourself approach, whether that is starting with whole beans or pre-ground coffee.
With a commercial coffee machine, and lots of users you will soon see the ‘grounds’ build up and will regularly need to empty the grounds bin. However before you throw them away, did you know that coffee grounds are also very versatile? This article will examine just some of the different uses for them, once you have enjoyed your drink of course!
Cleaning crockery
Strangely enough coffee grounds can prove to be fairly good cleaning agents, a few teaspoons on a thin cleaning rag can help with scouring grease and stains on crockery, without forgetting a thorough rinse at the end!
Neutralise odours
We all know how good coffee smells, it is one of the most recognisable of all smells and this can in fact be utilised to your advantage. If your fridge smells a little and spoiled food has left an unpleasant aroma then a bowl of coffee grounds in the fridge (or freezer) can really help to neutralise the foul smell.
Hand cleaning
Similarly to its ability to clean crockery, grounds can also be used as excellent hand cleansers.
Rubbing a teaspoon of grounds between palms is an excellent way to clean and exfoliate your hands, as well as cutting down on strong food smells that you may have picked up during cooking, e.g. fish etc.
Applying this process before a regular soap wash can vastly improve the feel and smell of your hands after preparing/eating food.
In the garden
People have found many uses for coffee in their garden, and it’s another great way to utilise all those coffee grounds that have built up.
They are used to help improve the structure of soil, and also while breaking down in the soil, release nitrogen which acts as a low level fertiliser. Not only this, but coffee provides healthy doses of primary plant nutrients (such as phosphorus, potassium etc.).
Coffee can also help fuel compost heaps and balance the mulchy components within the compost heap, giving better, higher quality compost for growing within.
So in addition to being a delicious drink, coffee is very versatile and can be used for a number of everyday household tasks. This is particularly useful for people who have access to a lot of coffee grounds, either at work with a professional espresso machine or at home with a bean to cup machine, and it’s great to re-use something that otherwise would have been thrown away.