How you can recycle your coffee grounds

Australian’s love their coffee. So much so that we are ranked 42^nd in the world for coffee drinking and consume a huge 3kgs per capita each year. On just about every corner there is a coffee shop seeling the latest bean or blend trend. With all this coffee being made, there is also a lot of coffee ground waste that gets generated and much of it is simply thrown away. Whilst some people do have compost that they put their coffee beans in, there are many other ways in which these grounds can be utilised as an alternative to waste.

Plant nutrients

If you have new seeds that you have just planted in your garden or in any pot plants that you have around the house, then coffee grounds are a great source of nutrients for them. Ground coffee beans contain nitrogen which is a key ingredient for growth of seedlings. Carrots are also big beneficiaries of coffee grounds so if you have a vegetable garden, sprinkle some coffee over them.

Neutralises odours

The first thought that may come in to your mind after reading that subheading is, “I don’t want my home to smell like coffee”. The good news is, just because you are using coffee grounds doesn’t mean that you home is going to smell like coffee. When dried out, these grounds act as a great odour neutraliser sucking in all of the other foul odours in your home.

Meat rub

Yes, you don’t want your steak to taste of coffee but if you use it sparingly in conjunction with other herbs and spices it acts as a great flavour boost for your meat. The coffee grounds will add a beautiful smokey flavour to the meat once cooked.

Keep out the ants

As much as we like coffee, ants hate it so it is a great way to keep ants out of your house. If you find any ant colonies around the house or simply want to ensure that you never do, sprinkle the coffee grounds around and you can be sure that the ants will find somewhere else to live.

Coffee scrub

Coffee stimulates the skin and blood circulation when applied topically to the body. Your used coffee grounds can easily be used to make your own organic coffee scrub to make your skin look healthy and smooth. Simply mix it with coconut palm oil and a dash of cinnamon for a beautiful, natural body scrub.