Collingswood’s Grooveground sells used coffee grounds
My lack of posting is the result of one of my family members being in the hospital for the past four weeks. I’m going to try to get in a regular groove again, but I appreciate your patience.
On my way to the hospital yesterday, I stopped at Groovegound in Collingswood for a much needed jolt, and I noticed that they were selling their used coffee grounds for $1 a bag. If this sounds odd to you, then you may not know the benefits of coffee grounds for your plants and your compost.
Here’s some information from Sustainable Enterprises on the usefulness of coffee byproducts.
- Sprinkle used grounds around plants before rain or watering, for a slow-release nitrogen.
- Add to compost piles to increase nitrogen balance. Coffee filters and tea bags break down rapidly during composting.
- Dilute with water for a gentle, fast-acting liquid fertilizer. Use about a half-pound can of wet grounds in a five-gallon bucket of water; let sit outdoors to achieve ambient temperature.
- Mix into soil for houseplants or new vegetable beds.
- Encircle the base of the plant with a coffee and eggshell barrier to repel pests.
- If you are into vermi-posting, feed a little bit to your worms
We create enough used coffee grounds around our house so that we don’t have to buy any. But there are some people who don’t drink coffee (hard to believe, I know) that could benefit from a coffee house’s waste. The earth benefits from people using this waste, too, because if they end up in an airtight landfill they turn from a useful soil nutrient to the harmful greenhouse gas methane. For more information on that, you can pop on over to a post I did on Sustainablog a while back - Compost vs Landfill: Does it really make a difference?
If you have a coffee house near you that sells its grinds, or gives them away, let us know about it in the comments.
Robin. Thanks for the kind words. Can I share this on my grooveground facebook page?
Absolutely. It’s been a couple years since I’ve been in your shop – I loved what I saw going on there from the 25 cents off for bringing your own travel mug to the green certification your going for. Good stuff.