Stop Food Waste Day
5 Different Household Uses for Spent Coffee Grounds
Our love of coffee means the UK produces an estimated 500,000 tonnes of waste coffee grounds every year (Bio-Bean UK). But did you know, there are different ways you can use spent coffee grounds around your house?
Take spent coffee grounds home from your workplace & follow these five handy hacks on how to use grounds effectively in the kitchen, garden and even in the bathroom! Join us in preventing leftover grounds ending up in landfill this #StopFoodWasteDay.
1. Skincare
Coffee grounds can be made into an excellent exfoliating body scrub. Mix the leftover coffee grounds with either water or coconut oil to create a homemade beauty treatment. Apply to the skin in a circular motion and rinse off to reveal soft, smooth skin. Coffee contains natural antioxidants, which help to reduce inflammation and redness. With an invigorating scent, the scrub also awakens the senses and brightens skin, making it an essential part of your morning skincare routine!
2. Removing odours
Used coffee grounds absorb fridge odours, much like bicarbonate of soda. Simply store the leftover coffee in a small pot in the fridge and let it work its magic! Another useful kitchen hack is washing your hands with coffee grounds after handling foods such as onions and garlic, to eliminate lingering smells from your hands. Just rub the coffee on your fingers and rinse off.
3. Cleaning
When combined with boiling water and washing up liquid, coffee grounds can be used as an effective grease-removing agent. Use them on your grill, sink or cookware. Be careful to not use on an absorbing surface as it may leave brown stains. The coarse texture of coffee grounds means they can also be used to scrub stains from dishes, pots and pans!
4. Garden
Used grounds make great compost, mix with garden cuttings, straw, shredded paper etc. and leave to degrade to create an effective fertiliser. They make excellent ‘green’ matter as they are naturally rich in nitrogen. Research shows that worms are attracted to coffee grounds (https://premeditatedleftovers.com/gardening/how-to-start-a-worm-garden/), this is great for your garden as when they eat the grounds they turn the soil keeping it fresh!
You can also use coffee to repel bugs and insects, some compounds in coffee can be highly toxic to insects! Simply sprinkle coffee grounds around your outdoor seating area or any area you see fit to enjoy a bug-free sunbathing session!
5. Cooking
Not many people know that used coffee grounds can tenderise and bring out smoky flavours in food. Use the grounds as the base of a dry spice rub for meat, coffee contains natural acids and enzymes that helps to break down tough muscle fibres and proteins and also adds colour and depth to rich flavours. You can also find some amazing brownie recipes online which use spent coffee grounds, including this recipe: Leftover Espresso Grounds Brownies | Reuse those coffee grounds! (forkintheroad.co)
If your business is using old coffee grounds in inventive ways, we’d love to hear from you, send your tips to UK-Marketing@jdecoffee.com or tag us in your posts on LinkedIn @JDEProfessionalUK