Who doesn’t love a great cup of joe in the morning? That jolt of caffeine isn’t just good for helping us start our day (or giving us a jumpstart in the middle of our day), but those used grounds can be put to good use around your home. Here are 5 ways you can reuse your coffee grounds:
Kitchen Cleaner
You really don’t think of coffee grounds as being a cleaning agent, but its properties are perfect for scrubbing grease and grime off of dishes (scour with just a few teaspoons of grounds followed up by a thorough rinsing), cleaning your countertops (toss the grounds on the surface and scrub with a sponge—test small area first!) and unclogging drains (boil a cup of grounds in a pot of water & pour hot mixture down the drain).
Deodorizer
Coffee grounds absorb strong odors so they are perfect for deodorizing those less-than-smell-good areas of your home such as trashcans and refrigerators. Put coffee grounds in a plastic container, poke holes in the lid and stick it in your fridge or freezer—it works just like baking soda. For the garbage, MoneyCrashers.com suggests filling an old pair of pantyhose with some dry coffee grounds and hanging the mixture on the inside of your trash can lid.
Fireplace Fixer
We love this idea from Mother Nature Network: Before cleaning the fireplace, sprinkle with dampened used coffee grounds, which will weigh down the ash and thus eliminate clouds of smoke-flavored dust.
Plant Fertilizer
Coffee grounds are a great addition to your compost, but they can also be used to enrich the soil of your plants—both inside and outside. Sprinkle the grounds in the soil or mix ½ cup of the grounds with warm water in a spray bottle to make a fertilized mist.
Odor Remover
We mentioned that coffee grounds absorb odors, so after cooking with items like garlic or onions, wet your hands, rub a small amount of coffee grounds on them, and rinse with cold water.
Not a coffee drinker? According to Care2.com, many coffee shops will give you their spent grounds for free or for a nominal fee that covers the cost of packing them up for you.
Talk to us: How do you reuse your coffee grounds?
image courtesy of flickr CC/Chris Campbell