I’m not going to win any breaking-news awards for this, but coffee grounds make great compost additions. If you drink coffee, save the grounds. If you don’t drink coffee, I’m not sure how you are reading this because you probably aren’t human. You are probably a zombie. Or some other undead abomination. Please check yourself by asking:
- Do I like to eat brains? (If yes, you are probably a zombie.)
- Do I shamble instead of running even when pursuing the living? (If yes, you are probably a zombie.)
- Does the sunlight burn me? (If yes, you are probably a vampire.)
And speaking of things that decay, even your paper filters that you use with coffee can go right into the compost pile. Just don’t use the yucky bleachy kind.
A lot of the larger coffee shops do offer their grounds to complete strangers. Shamble in and ask.
Within Your Compost Pile
Add coffee grounds for a boost of nitrogen and heat to your compost pile. As with most things composty, don’t add too much. 20% of your ingredients as coffee grounds is pretty good. If you’ve got a bucket of coffee grounds that you save in your kitchen, it will probably mold (especially if you save the grounds hot and wet), but that’s okay. Add it to the compost anyway.
Within Your Vermicular Bin
Worms dig coffee. They are practically human in their love for it. They will thrive on the grounds added and the filters. Watch your pH because coffee adds acidity. Lime or eggshells will help balance that out.
As A Mulch
If you’ve got a crazy coffee habit or perhaps you own Starbucks or a villa in Columbia, you could mulch with the grounds. Acidity again can be a bit of a problem, but nothing that can’t be countered.
Other Compost Posts
Compostings 
I took photos this morning for my next post (though I’m off to work so don’t know when I’ll post it). My husband has finally started collecting coffee grounds from his work. Yeah!
I should get the grounds from work too Daphne. Tons and tons. In fact, I wonder if asked nicely if they’d save their veggie choppings for me in a bucket.
Yup, we add our (unbleached) filters and coffee grounds and crushed eggshells to our compost and worm bins, too. And oh, I do miss the days when I worked in an office—oh, wait, let me clarify that, I miss the office cafeteria that used to send me home with whole bags of coffee grounds. Another totally classic post!!!
ha! That’s probably the only thing you miss from the office life Ben. I think I would miss the soul-sucking bureaucracy the most. Oh, and the people. Naturally the people.
Good advice. We always save our grounds for the compost.
We drink decaf. Are we still human?
Yes. Decaf qualifies you as human, but you are probably on a zombie watch list.
I usually put a bit of grounds around my acid loving plants like Azaleas since our soil is naturally alkaline.
I usually put a bit of grounds around my acid loving plants like Azaleas since our soil is naturally alkaline.
Sorry, should have said good post! Waiting for the next one!
Oh veggie choppings would be wonderful. No one makes food at his work, yet. They are working on a kitchen however. I hadn’t thought of those. I wonder if I could train the chef to separate. I’d need more leaves for my carbon source though.
The amount of coffee grounds that go into my compost pile probably equals the amount of kitchen clippings. Hmmmm… there’s probably something not right about that in my diet. My big fat earthworms like them at the rate I do I think. Great post.
Meems @ Hoe and Shovel
Hello Meems! Thanks for the comment. I think if my diet were truly composted even the microbes would die of heart disease.
Great article. I’ve been doing some coffee grounds collecting of my own so already good to see others that have seen the benefits for themselves.
Wife says i’m crazy, picked up over a 1,000 lbs. of coffee chaff. Have stored in my shop, I grow a large garden every year and would like a little adult supervision on how to mix it from becoming to acidic, lime and eggs or what.Please help, Zombie Killer!
Found some good info at this linkhttp://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=793&bhcd2=1295631306 on the acidity of coffee grounds. very acidic. to neutralize, 1 cup of lime to every 10 pounds of grounds.