The 6 Best Ways To Dispose Of Coffee Grounds

if you’re a coffee drinker who constantly brews coffee at home, you may be generating a lot of used and leftover coffee grounds after your latte, cappuccino, espresso, or simple cup of coffee in the morning.

Instead of simply tossing grounds in the trash where they end up in a landfill or kitchen sink drain, which can lead to plumbing problems, consider going for a greener alternative.

Reading: Best way to dispose of coffee grounds

since coffee grounds don’t actually break down in a landfill, throwing your coffee grounds away creates more soil contamination and waste buildup.

instead, you can dispose of leftover grounds by turning coffee grounds into fertilizer, using them as an insect repellent, or even as an air freshener. To learn more about the best ways to dispose of and recycle your coffee grounds, continue reading our detailed guide below.

turn your coffee grounds into fertilizer

One of the best ways to dispose of coffee grounds is to turn them into a healthy and environmentally friendly fertilizer alternative for your plants or garden. Since coffee is acidic and very rich in nitrogen, it is the perfect fertilizer to stabilize the ph of the soil of your plants.

Coffee grounds are also granular, which makes them easier to distribute evenly throughout the soil and helps them reach plant roots more efficiently. it can be easily dug into the ground or sprinkled sparingly on the soil between rows of plants to encourage additional growth.

Since coffee is a natural organic material that is safe for adults to consume, you may choose to handle it without gloves if you prefer.

This non-toxic substance will improve your plants’ ability to retain nutrients and supply additional nitrogen to deficient plants. it also smells like your favorite coffee shop and allows you to avoid stinky and harmful fertilizer options. Who doesn’t like the smell of coffee?

recycling coffee grounds in your garden, or even in a compost pile, instead of in a landfill is a great alternative to throwing them away.

make a homemade hair and face product

Coffee grounds are rough and rough, making them a great scrub. If you’re a beauty fanatic who’s always up for trying out the latest healthy and eco-friendly products, creating a homemade hair product from leftover coffee grounds is a great option for you.

A homemade coffee body scrub can exfoliate and stimulate dry skin that needs a little more love. You can also use those old coffee beans if you suffer from oily hair or dry, flaky ends. cleansing your hair with coffee can help it feel fresh and revitalized. And if your skin has accumulated impurities and residue, why not try a coffee face mask?

To create a hair or face mask with coffee grounds, simply add a few drops of water or even micellar water to a lump of coffee grounds and lather onto face and hair. leave it for about 10 minutes before continuing to scrub gently, then wash it off with lukewarm water.

You’ll feel the exfoliating effects of the coffee grounds immediately. your hair will be shinier and more voluminous, with more body and fullness, and you will have healthier skin that feels smooth and looks vibrant for days.

however, coffee grounds will dye lighter colors and can make your hair a bit darker than its current color. If you have very light hair that you would not like to dye, consider using the loose coffee grounds alone as a facial scrub.

If you’re interested in dyeing your hair darker with the coffee grounds, follow these simple steps: lather your hair, leave the grounds in for at least an hour, wash them out, and repeat a second time. your hair should be a slightly darker shade of brown.

This process is similar to dyeing coffee, tea-dying a shirt on the stove with hot water, or even dyeing your hair with henna paste.

Although the results last a long time for those with fine, porous, absorbent or light hair, the duration of the effects of coloring hair with coffee grounds is not guaranteed for everyone.

turn your floors into insect repellent

Another great way to reuse coffee grounds is to create insect repellants. One of the benefits of coffee grounds is that they are a wonderful and effective natural insect repellent due to their acid levels.

Some insects hate coffee so much that they avoid it altogether, and other insects will consume it before quickly dying.

to make your insect repellent with used coffee grounds, you must:

gather coffee grounds
transfer your coffee grounds into a jar
fill the jar a couple of inches with a layer of coffee grounds
line jar with duct tape or fly tape
leave the jar in an area that is populated with unwanted bugs

In addition, you can sprinkle a line of coffee grounds around your garden so snails, worms, and other destructive garden pests will leave your garden plants, flowers, and vegetables alone.

Doing this will allow you to enjoy the seasonal fruits of your garden labor without running into those unsightly bug holes.

create a natural air freshener

suppose you want an air freshener to eliminate bad odors coming from your kitchen, bedroom or bathroom. lucky for you, coffee grounds are a great alternative to traditional chemical air fresheners.

instead of throwing it in the landfill, you can use your used coffee grounds to remove unwanted odors because they absorb strong, acrid odors from foods like fish, onions, garlic, meats, and curries .

due to its neutralizing quality, coffee grounds can also remove foreign odors from sinks, garbage disposals, drain pipes, and even around indoor garbage or compost bins.

if you need to eliminate a bad smell from your home and you have decided that you want to create your own ground coffee freshener, you can do the following:

take a clean ice tray and a small bag with coffee grounds
fill the grounds with water in the ice cube tray
freeze the grounds tray from 5 hours to overnight
remove ice cubes from coffee grounds and add a few to each smelly area
if the area cannot be wetted, simply place a handful in a small bowl near or on the kitchen counter
replace grounds every two weeks

If you notice your fridge doesn’t smell very good, you can also put some coffee grounds wrapped in cheesecloth on one of your fridge shelves to neutralize odors the same way a packet of baking soda would.

add your coffee grounds to the compost

Composting coffee grounds is one of the most traditional and ingenious ways to recycle used coffee grounds.

Whether you have your own compost heap in the garden, send your compost to a local sustainability-conscious farm, or compost with your town’s compost bin for reuse, compost can help you put your compost to good use. their grounds after they leave their coffee pot.

one of the best reasons to compost coffee grounds is for its macrobiotic powers.

Coffee grounds help microorganisms grow in the soil and help balance the ph of the compost with its high nitrogen content and acidity levels. these microorganisms work to speed up the composting process, helping things grow back even faster.

try some tinting with coffee grounds

If you’re done with your delicious American brunch and wondering what to do on a lazy weekend with your kids, consider trying staining yourself with your used coffee grounds from the morning.

instead of gathering a bunch of unnatural, toxic colors to scatter over your white t-shirts, take a handful of coffee grounds and mix it with boiling water to form a paste. make sure you don’t add too much water, or you’ll create a mixture that’s too thin and too coffee-like.

Then, fasten your white shirt with rubber bands and start diving. the effect will turn out more light brown and beige than black or dark brown like coffee, but it will give you beautiful subtle patterns that you’ll enjoy wearing over and over again.

Your kids will love this fun and easy activity, and better for you, it involves minimal cleanup. Meanwhile, you can also rest easy knowing your family crafts don’t expose them to artificial dyes, strong odors, or toxic chemicals.

one of the best things about this way of recycling coffee grounds is that the dyeing can be repeated every time you make your coffee at home.

reduce, reuse, recycle

Coffee grounds can have many uses, from exfoliating skin and coloring hair to dyeing T-shirts, feeding plants with essential nutrients, balancing soil ph, and banishing bad odors.

By disposing of coffee grounds and reusing them for crafts, insect repellent, plant fertilizers, beauty products, and more, you’re not only saving money, but you’re also becoming more eco-conscious with your choices.

instead of throwing used coffee grounds straight into the landfill, disposing of them through composting or craft uses will help you get the most bang for your buck while still feeling good about it.

happy caffeine!