5 Creative Ideas for Used Coffee Waste

Introduction

You might be wondering what other coffee grounds can be used for, whether you make coffee every day or have observed that coffee shops have been putting out bags of used coffee grounds. Thankfully, many uses from coffee waste have emerged, allowing us to be able to repurpose coffee waste we throw occasionally.

1. Compost

Can you put coffee waste in your compost? The answer to that is yes. Coffee waste, including coffee grounds, are exceptional for compost. If you have a compost bin out in your garden, tossing your coffee grounds in it after consumption every time you drink coffee will help utilize the waste coffee makes.

Coffee grounds contain nitrogen which provide aid in the breaking down of organic materials and other minerals such as magnesium, calcium and potassium which are beneficial to plants. Adding coffee grounds to compost provides the “green” part of compost. Make sure you balance the greens and browns of compost whilst adding coffee grounds to it. If you have too many greens, your compost starts to produce a bad odor. If you don’t have enough, your compost won’t heat up enough.

2. Natural Fertilizer

Owning an easy-to-access fertilizer is a great way to give nutrients to your plants. Creating a liquid fertilizer out of used coffee grounds can be a useful way to help your plant grow using excess coffee grounds. All you need to do is to dilute coffee grounds into water, then let the mixture seep for a few days before straining the mixture using a cloth so the remaining liquid can be used to water your plants. If sprayed directly on plant leaves and stems, it also works well as a foliar feed.

Another type of fertilizer that can be implemented is directly placing coffee grounds into the soil itself. Using coffee grounds that have been used and placed on top of soil can lower the pH of the soil making it good for acid loving plants. Keep in mind though that this is only true for used coffee grounds though. Fresh coffee grounds can be too acidic for plants, possibly harming the plant.

3. Exfoliant

Natural exfoliants are now the crave, and many in general are looking for ways to be able to create their own at home. Using coffee grounds provides an easy way to exfoliate the skin, one way of doing so is by using it as a scrub. The benefits of using coffee grounds is that it can help remove dead skin cells, unclog pores, promote brighter skin, and temporarily reduce the effects of cellulite.

4. Masking Odors

Coffee grounds are a very absorbent substance, making it a great way to keep bad odors at bay. Many products like car fresheners filled with coffee grounds allow for unwanted smells to be disguised. Even placing an open jar of used and dried coffee grounds in locations such as the fridge can help mask smells.

5. Insect and Pest Repellent

Finding a safe insect repellent is quite hard as most store-bought repellent is toxic and sometimes expensive. A safe and effective way to keep pests away is by using coffee grounds. Coffee, as many may know, has a very pungent and potent smell. This odor to insects and pests can deter them away as insects such as wasps and bees are very sensitive to smell.

Conclusion

Coffee grounds can have multiple different uses and this article only listed a few. Even when coffee grounds are always being thrown away, we should always think twice about it. Sometimes waste can have another use that we haven’t thought of, all we need to do is to think creatively.