The mornings may seem dull without a steaming cup of freshly brewed coffee!
Drinking coffee is like an instant energy boost that makes you feel awake and active. Whether you’re having an early morning meeting or trying to pull an all-nighter, it will always come to your rescue.
And if you’re a hardcore caffeinator, you most probably like to use a coffee maker instead of having instant coffees.
Now, when you use a coffee maker or a French press, you’re bound to leave behind some ground coffee. But let’s face it – who’d like to waste fresh coffee grounds sourced from premium quality coffee beans? Well, that’s why there are some pretty simple ways to recycle spent coffee grounds.
In this article, we’ll talk about seven easy ways to reuse coffee grounds without throwing them away in the trash. So, without any further ado, let’s take a look!
How To Recycle Coffee Grounds?
1. Use As Compost
Coffee grounds are rich in antioxidants and nutrients, and adding them to your compost heap can effectively enhance the nitrogen content of your garden soil. Plus, they work to improve soil fertility and soil health to facilitate plant growth. So, you can increase the nutrient levels of the soil by adding the leftover coffee grounds to your compost pile.
Furthermore, recycling coffee grounds as compost can help introduce beneficial worms in the soil to regulate soil temperatures. However, be careful about the amount of coffee grounds you add to the compost heap. The ratio must be perfect; otherwise, you might end up with highly acidic soil that can kill all your garden plants.
2. Use To Absorb Food Odours
We all know how intoxicating and refreshing the smell of freshly brewed coffee can be. Coffee grounds can absorb odours from the air. In fact, the caffeine present in coffee can eliminate the foul smell of sulphur through adsorption. So, you can use leftover coffee grounds to remove foul food odours.
For instance, if you’re getting a foul odour from the freezer or refrigerator every time you open it, simply grab some coffee grounds to absorb and eliminate the odour.
They are safe with no harmful chemicals and can be an excellent replacement for baking soda for eliminating food odours in your kitchen. Used coffee grounds also work well in eliminating the pungent odours of fish or garlic from your kitchen cabinets.
3. Natural Skin Exfoliator
Tired of your dark circles and dull skin? Used coffee grounds can act as an excellent skin exfoliator to remove dead cells and rejuvenate your skin. You can easily make a natural body scrub using coffee grounds that can help enhance the natural glow of your skin.
A homemade coffee scrub can also help remove fatty cells and cellulite if you use it regularly. Simply apply the scrub in the areas affected with dead skin cells in circular motions to restore that natural glow.
The caffeine present in the grounds has anti-inflammatory properties that work on fatty cells and enhance blood flow. So, the leftover grounds can work like magic to make your skin look healthy, reduce puffy eyes, and can be a part of your daily beauty routine.
4. Natural Abrasive
Cleaning burnt pans and pots can be a backbreaking task. But, applying some coffee grounds can make the entire cleaning process so much easier. Used grounds have a coarse texture that makes them a perfect natural abrasive. And they are pretty easy to use for the purpose of cleaning stubborn stains off your cooking utensils.
Simply sprinkle some spent coffee grounds on your pan and use some warm water to scrub off the stubborn grease. You can also use a coffee filter with the spent grounds to clean a burnt and messy pot without much hassle.
5. Natural Dye
Stains from spilled coffee can be pretty nasty, but they can work exceptionally well as a natural dye. Take some used coffee grounds in a pot and boil it in water. Then, dip your favourite white shirt in the pot and leave it for a few hours so that it can take up the dye.
Once you remove the shirt, you’ll see prominent brown stains marking the white shirt. Let it dry, and get ready to show off your completely new naturally dyed shirt. So, you can use coffee grounds for styling products.
6. Repelling Garden Pests
Looking for a potent natural pest repellent? Ground coffee will do the trick for you as pests like ants and mosquitoes cannot withstand its smell.
In fact, soft-bellied pests, including slugs and snails, and many insects don’t even like the abrasive texture of the grounds. So, you can sprinkle them in your garden to keep these pests away from the plants.
7. Making Coffee Candles
Homemade coffee candles can add a refreshing and energising fragrance to your bedroom. All you need are some used grounds and some leftover candles.
And you won’t require any technical knowledge to make these beautiful homemade coffee candles that will surely fill your room with the intoxicating smell of coffee.
Final Thoughts
Brewing coffee makes your mornings lighter and brighter. In fact, a morning cup of coffee works like magic to keep you energised all day. But, the coffee grounds left behind from the brewing process can be a bit messy and lead to wastage.
That said, after reading our article, we hope you are aware of some easy ways to reuse and recycle the grounds without just chucking them in the trash. They can be a great fertiliser for your garden.
You can also use them to eliminate odours from your kitchen or smelly shoes. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You can always come up with a lot more innovative ways to recycle used coffee grounds.
And on that note, we’ll sign off. Until next time!
