The aroma, the taste, the energy it gives - these are some of the attractive qualities that coffee lovers find in coffee. Sometimes, the love of coffee comes with the love of getting excess of it. And when you have excess coffee grounds, what can you do?
Indeed, coffee can be useful besides drinking purposes. You can use the coffee grounds for a variety of ways such as in your beauty routine, in the garden, and in other parts of your home. Before thinking about putting those grounds to trash, here are some ingenious ways you can recycle and use them.
It Exfoliates the Skin
An inexpensive and nature-loving way to use your coffee grounds is through utilizing it as a facial or body exfoliant. Below is a list of ingredients and procedures for an easy home recipe for a simple exfoliating facial scrub that will last for several weeks:
- 4 Tablespoons coconut, olive, or preferred oil
- 6 Tablespoons very finely ground coffee (previously brewed is fine)
- a few drops of tea tree oil, or preferred essential oil, optional
- Mix all the ingredients well.
- Store the product in an airtight container in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
- To use the exfoliant, you can opt to have a tiny spoon to scoop out a small portion.
- Apply an adequate amount of the mixture on your skin in a circular motion.
Another skin product that can come from the use of coffee grounds is a face mask. Perk up your skin by making a coffee facial mask while reading your favorite book, sipping a cup of tea, or watching a new TV series.
You Can Use Coffee Grounds for Your Hair
- Coffee helps stimulate hair growth. You can try applying coffee with your favorite hair conditioner. Then, you gently scrub your scalp for a few minutes. You can use this hair regimen once a week for optimum results.
- Another hair tip with the use of coffee grounds is boosting your hair color. This coffee ground boost works well especially for people with light brown or dark blonde hair color. The coffee grounds can add highlights to darker brunette hair. Additionally, there is enhance shine for the hair of people who used coffee grounds.
On a practical note, you should take precaution for possible coffee grounds going down your shower drain. You can use some material to catch the coffee grounds, such as an old, recycle coffee filter.
It Helps in Enriching Plants
Plants need a suitable environment to grow. Certain plants like roses, lilies, hydrangeas, azalea, and other herbs need acidic soils with pH below 6.5 to reach their maximum growth potential. This acidic requirement is where coffee grounds, particularly fresh coffee grounds, can help.
- Coffee grounds help supply an extra amount of nitrogen and potassium which will improve the quality of the soil, fit for providing the demands of a growing plant. Moreover, these bits are organic material in the ground that improves drainage, water retention, and aeration.
- This addition will help create a suitable medium for the growth of microorganisms and attract earthworms. This rich flora may help in nitrogen recycling, pollution degradation, and converting nutrients for energy.
The mixture for having this benefit is the combination of grass clippings, tree leaves or straw, quality soil, and coffee grounds. You can let the mixture settle for a few days before planting your plants.
It Makes a Good Repellant for Pests and Substrate for Mushroom
Aside from healthy soil, the growth of the plants relies on the minimal exposure to pests and weeds too. The compounds such as caffeine and diterpenes in the grounds ward off creatures such as cats, rabbits, mosquitoes, fruit flies, beetles, and slugs may. Also, fresh coffee grounds can suppress the growth of weeds and opportunistic fungi. All you need is sprinkle the grounds around outdoor seating areas and your plants.
An innovative use of coffee grounds is growing mushrooms. Here is the procedure on how to grow about any mushroom using coffee grounds:
- Gather about 2.5 kilograms or 5.5 pounds of coffee grounds and moisten the grounds with water using a spray bottle.
- Incorporate the sawdust mixture and about a pound (500 grams) of mushroom spore together with the coffee grounds.
- Choose the container where you want your mushrooms to grow. It may be a bucket, a large freezer bag, or a filter patch grow bag. Then, cut four air holes about 5 mm in size into the sides of the container.
- Fill the container with the mixture until approximately one-half to two-thirds full.
- Depending on the weather, you should lightly spray the grounds with water once or as needed every day.
- After a few weeks, when you see dense white areas with little budding mushrooms, you can move the container into an area with lighter and fresher air.
Coffee Grounds as Air Freshener and Room Aromatizer
Do you enjoy the smell of coffee when you walk in the cafe? Without the added cost of a humidifier and essential oils, you can have your house smelling like that - or better - for the whole day as well. The nitrogen content of the coffee grounds will help eliminate the foul-smelling sulfur gas from the atmosphere.
You can place coffee grounds in a bowl and put it in the fridge or freezer, and you can fill old socks or pantyhose then tie them on different spots in the house.
Another trick that you can do is melting old candle pieces and incorporating coffee grounds in them. It is like a customized candle where you can choose the shape of your desired output. When you burn the candle, the result will be a warm and pleasurable coffee aroma.
Conclusion
More than the brewing, there are so many possibilities where you can turn your extra supply of coffee grounds into other beneficial things. The coffee grounds may turn into exfoliants, masks, aromatizer, and more. You can opt to have a more organic lifestyle by choosing to see the potential in the coffee grounds.
References:
http://cafeflavour.com/why-are-coffee-grounds-so-useful/
https://people.com/food/coffee-how-to-use-grounds-beans/
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/composting/ingredients/coffee-grounds-gardening.htm
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/uses-for-coffee-grounds#section3