7 things to do with coffee grounds other than throwing them away

things to do with coffee grounds
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So you’ve made your coffee and found yourself with some leftover grounds to pop in the bin. This happens to us every day, right?

Actually, in a world where everyone should be trying to reduce their waste, there are many other things you can do with your coffee grounds and in this guide, we’re exploring 7 ways to use your leftovers from your ground beans once you’re done with them. You might be shocked to learn that there are actually many different things to do with coffee grounds other than throwing them away.

Use Them As a Pest Repellent

Loads of household and garden pests hate the acidity of coffee, and even when they’ve been used already there is plenty of this acidity left to scare the pests away.

You can spread a line of grounds within your home if you have areas that are susceptible to things like ant colonies, or to stop them from coming into the kitchen.

A few grounds around the garden can also keep slugs and snails at bay, and you can even use coffee grounds to wash your pets (combined with pet shampoo) as this will scare the fleas away. It’s amazing how much pests really do hate coffee.

Coffee Candles With an Authentic Smell

Ever tried making your own candles before? Coffee grounds can be added as an ingredient to great effect. Rather than using oils to create an aroma, you can use actual coffee, and this can release a smell as the heat contacts the coffee. If you’re the sort of person who loves the smell of coffee brewing, you can enjoy the aroma of coffee beans all the time with a beautiful and easy-to-make candle.

Composting

There’s really no reason that your coffee grounds and leftover coffee beans should go into the bin when they can be added to compost.

If you have a compost bin then they are actually fantastic additions, as they are so full of nitrogen. This can make worms likely to stick to the compost bin, which we know does a fantastic job of creating a rich and useful compost.

Coffee beans have loads of other vitamins and minerals including potassium and calcium which can make them a really good fertilizer. Mixed with the rest of your compostable waste they can create the ideal substance to rake around the soil and ensure that your garden is kept healthy for years to come.

Apply Straight to Plants

If you don’t have a compost bin then you may be pleased to learn that your coffee grounds can actually be applied directly to plants and still have a fertilizer effect. All that good stuff in your coffee can be passed onto plants and even put in a vegetable patch.

A Natural De-Icer

In the winter, you might experience snowstorms and icy conditions. A lot of us have to deal with this for many months, and may use salt or even harmful chemicals that can prevent or tackle frozen ground.

Actually, coffee does a similar job. Coffee grounds can add friction to walk on and make it less likely that you’ll slip and fall, but they are also full of nitrogen. Nitrogen melts ice, so this can be one of the most natural methods possible to remove the ice from your drive or car park, and it is not bad for the environment like some of the products that you can buy.

Use Them For Cleaning

As well as the substance of ground coffee beans, the texture can be very useful in certain scenarios, too.

Because they are so coarse, a lot of people use them for scrubbing food from kitchen utensils, pots, pans, and trays. If you have food that has baked onto these pans you can apply grounds first and then scrub away with a scourer. The extra abrasive texture will help you to lift off the dirt. You can then rinse and wash with soapy water to give a sparkling clean. Some people even use this pre-dishwasher as a way to get stubborn stains off of pots and pans.

Include Coffee In Your Skincare Routine

Because coffee grounds are so coarse they can also do a great job of exfoliating your skin. They can remove dirt and dead cells that are currently on your skin, when combined with an oil base they can be rubbed all over your body to improve the condition of your skin. Some people also add water and other cleaning products to the ground coffee.

Caffeine will still be in place in coffee grounds, which also has antioxidant properties which has been shown to help your skin condition and protect from any damage that may be caused by the sun.

Summary

There we have it – 7 things to do with coffee grounds other than throwing them away. As you can see, virtually everyone has a use for coffee grounds that can be far more creative than just putting them in the bin. Do your bit for the environment and consider how you can reuse ground coffee beans.

Coffee photo created by valeria_aksakova – www.freepik.com

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