How to Store Used Coffee Grounds
Get the most out of your expensive coffee by saving the used grounds to use as mulch or to build an eco-friendly garbage compost. Use the grounds to add nutrients to the soil as well as naturally repel garden pests such as slugs and snails. You can also hang a handmade sachet featuring dried used grounds in a closet to absorb odors. Get creative by looking for other ways to put used coffee grounds to work around your home. If you have a lot of used grounds, store them properly until they’re needed.
Place the used coffee grounds in an air-tight plastic or metal container, such as an empty coffee can or small plastic storage bin.
Store the used grounds in a refrigerator. Avoid storing the grounds at room temperature as they may get moldy.
- Get the most out of your expensive coffee by saving the used grounds to use as mulch or to build an eco-friendly garbage compost.
- Get creative by looking for other ways to put used coffee grounds to work around your home.
Freeze the used coffee grounds in the air-tight metal or plastic container if you have a lot and don't plan on using them right away.
Coffee Grounds In Vegetable Gardens
Put one-third coffee grounds, one-third grass clippings and one-third dried leaves into a compost bin. If you don't have enough leaves or grass clippings, use shredded paper coffee filters. Allow the compost to develop a soil-like appearance and an earthy aroma before using it. It may take three months or longer for compost to fully break down, depending on the materials used. Add as much as 6 inches of compost per year to your vegetable garden soil. Mix the coffee grounds and the fertilizer into the soil with a pitchfork or shovel. Don't leave the coffee grounds on the surface of the soil, exposed to the air and causing them to dry out; dried-out coffee grounds repel water.
- Freeze the used coffee grounds in the air-tight metal or plastic container if you have a lot and don't plan on using them right away.
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Writer Bio
Elizabeth Arnold has written for a wide variety of publications and websites. Her experience includes writing travel features for "Recommend" magazine and packaging marketing copy for both Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. consumer products. Recently, Arnold was a staff writer for "Special Events" magazine. Arnold studied English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
