Using coffee as you go green

I personally have a compost pile around the side of my house, and one of the primary nitrogen ingredients (aka green ingredients) I used in my compost pile is coffee grounds.  I use my personal coffee grounds, plus I will occasionally pick up grounds in bulk from Starbucks or The Coffee Ethic to supplement.  Locally, Starbucks, The Coffee Ethic, and Kaldi’s Coffee will put out used coffee grounds in a big bag that you can take for free to use in your garden.  Coffee grounds are a great nitrogen source, so you can add them directly to your garden or use them to supplement a compost pile.

This past, I found a blog post via Twitter titled “Use Coffee to Help the Environment“  Their tips were as follows:

• Sprinkle used grounds around plants before rain or watering, for a slow-release nitrogen.
• Add to compost piles to increase nitrogen balance.
• Coffee filters and tea bags break down rapidly during composting.
• Dilute with water for a gentle, fast-acting liquid fertilizer. Use about a half-pound of wet grounds in a five-gallon bucket of water; let sit outdoors to achieve ambient temperature. Mix into soil for houseplants or new vegetable beds. Encircle the base of the plant with a coffee and eggshell barrier to repel pests.

These are all good tips.  Don’t throw out used coffee grounds!  Instead, use them in your campaign to go green.