Are you a big coffee consumer? Recycling coffee grounds instead of throwing them away is both economical and environmentally friendly! ✋
Coffee is the second most widely consumed beverage in France. 80% of French people drink it regularly. When you think of a cup of coffee, you think of coffee grounds: the residue of ground coffee after brewing. Unfortunately, coffee grounds often end up in the garbage can. It accounts for some 20 million tonnes worldwide every year.
But it's not waste. So what to do with your coffee grounds?
Contents
5 ways to recycle coffee grounds
Discover 5 ways to recycle your coffee grounds in your home or garden!
A compost activator
Thanks to the minerals it contains, coffee grounds are a super compost activator. It accelerates the decomposition of organic waste. You can add it to your composter, where it stimulates worm activity 🪱 Be careful, though, not to add too much - as always in compost, balance is key!
Coffee grounds can also help attract worms to your garden, improving soil quality. In fact, you can build a compost worm trap from coffee grounds, which worms love. To find out more, visit our article Where to get free compost worms?
A beauty scrub
Turn your coffee grounds into a beauty scrub for your face or body. Thanks to its fine, slightly abrasive particles, it acts as an exfoliant. It also contains caffeine, which has stimulating properties and helps improve blood microcirculation!
To create a scrub for your face, mix a teaspoon of coffee grounds, a teaspoon of honey and a teaspoon of vegetable oil. For a body scrub, you can also mix a dose of coffee grounds with a dose of your usual shower gel. Gently massage into your skin and rinse off with lukewarm water.
Before use, remember to test on a small piece of skin as a precaution.
Coffee grounds are also useful for removing dirt from hands after DIY or gardening! Once moistened, rub your hands with a mixture of soap and coffee grounds. They'll be as good as new!
A household product
Coffee grounds are a real ally for home maintenance! 🏠
Here are just a few uses:
- Maintain your pipes: the gritty, abrasive texture of coffee grounds helps maintain your pipes. Boil a cup of coffee grounds in a pan of water and pour the hot mixture down the drain. Repeat the operation from time to time. This will prevent deposits and possible blockages.
- Degrease your dishes: with warm water and a sponge, coffee grounds can remove all traces of grease from your frying pan, saucepan or plates!
- Deodorize your fridge: coffee grounds absorb unpleasant odors! Place the grounds in a dish and change them every two weeks.
A natural repellent
Insects and pets don't like the smell of coffee. It's a great natural insect repellent !
- If ants are invading your home or patio, sprinkle coffee grounds in their path or cover the anthill with them to scare them away.
- Sprinkled around your plants, coffee grounds help keep snails and slugs away from young shoots.
- To discourage aphids, spread coffee grounds at the foot of your plants.
- And if your cats like to play with your plants, don't hesitate to sprinkle a little pomace on the surface of the soil. Our four-legged friends don't like the smell. They'll leave your plants alone!
A fertilizer for your plants
Coffee grounds are rich in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Once composted, it's a super natural fertilizer for boosting your plants 🌿 Be careful, it's not advisable to use coffee grounds directly in your plants, as in high doses they can become a growth inhibitor. It's better to compost it!
How do you use coffee grounds at home? 😉
👉 To make the most of your waste, think about composting! Discover our range of compact, designer apartment composters.
