Coffee gives us everything we need. It gives us life, and for that we can only return the favour by recycling some of our most used products at home! Whether your daily dose is in Beans, Cold Brew Cans or Espresso Capsules, we have some ideas on how you can ‘harvest’ them all!
Coffee Grounds
Starting with our favourite, coffee grounds have a variety of purposes. Don’t throw them away, do this instead;
A well known use of coffee grounds is making a great fertiliser, that’s because of the key nutrients they hold like nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, and calcium to name a few, which turn out to be great for plant health.
Let’s fertilise
To get started, add your used coffee grounds to your compost pile, which usually consists of vegetable peels, fruit skins, egg shells and other types of natural waste. (If you don’t yet compost at home, here’s a great excuse to start! You just need a small bucket or container to add your food waste.)
When your compost is ready (usually about two weeks of maturing in a container), mix a small amount of it with potting soil and distribute among your indoor and outdoor plants.
House plants in particular prefer low levels of acidity in their soil, making used coffee grounds ideal for enriching your plants. Tip: Make sure not to use too much ground, as it can lead to foliage burn and nutrient toxicity in large quantities. Just like store-bought fertiliser, a little goes a long way.
Liquid Fertiliser
If you do not compost at home and don’t plan on starting, you can create a liquid fertiliser instead. The key here is dilution; we recommend using a teaspoon of coffee grounds per gallon of water. Let the coffee grounds and water mixture steep for a few nights, stirring occasionally, then strain the liquid through a cheesecloth. The remaining liquid can be used to water, and gently fertilise, your houseplants and garden.
If you followed our Cold Brew Recipe, this is a great way to repurpose the grounds used for your home brew.
Meat Rub/Marinade
If you’re looking for a smokey, bbq flavour for your meat, mix a tablespoon of coffee grounds into your marinade or rub, and apply directly to your protein or tofu choice before cooking.
This is an excellent trick if you aren’t grilling on charcoal or wood, but still want that smokey, charred flavour.
Clean Your Grill or Pots
Dab a damp sponge into some used coffee ground to clean a gunky grill or grimey pot. Acidity and friction from the ground lift the stubborn grease and grime. Make sure to rinse thoroughly with warm water and enjoy!
Removing Funky Odours
Smelly fridge? Put an open jar of coffee grounds in your fridge or freezer to absorb funky odours and keep your food fresh for longer. Switch them out with new grounds once a month to keep your fridge clean.
Additionally, you can simmer one cup of coffee grounds (used or fresh) and two cups of water on your stove while you are cooking foods with a strong odour. This will deodorise the air, leaving your kitchen fresh smelling after dinner!
The grounds can also remove garlic and onion smell from your hands, just give them a good rub, but be careful if you have sensitive skin!
Face Mask for glowy skin
Recycle your grounds in a scrub by simply rubbing it in circular motions to your skin, before rinsing it off in the bath or shower. You can also customise your scrub with essential oils and ingredients such as; yogurt, honey, coconut oil, oatmeal, sea salt or brown sugar.
Get Rid of Puffy Eyes
Mix one teaspoon of coffee with one teaspoon of honey and gently dab under your eyes. Let it sit for 10 minutes and rinse gently with cool water.
Exfoliate Your Skin
Mix a tablespoon or two of coffee grounds in with your favourite body wash for an exhilarating and natural way to exfoliate your skin.
Cellulite Remover
Caffeine is often an ingredient in expensive beauty creams, but you can make one yourself for free! How’s how to create an all-natural cellulite wrap at home:
- Heat 1 cup of coconut oil until it melts.
- Cool the oil, but keep stirring so that it doesn’t solidify too much.
- Add 1 cup of coffee grounds, 2/3 cup sugar, and 2 tablespoons of vanilla extract.
- Mix until the ingredients combine.
- Apply the mixture on cellulite-affected areas and massage in circular motions for five to ten minutes.
Sugar helps eliminate dead skin cells from the skin’s surface and promotes new cell growth while the coffee improves circulation and the removal of toxins, and coconut oil hydrates the skin. The vanilla extract gives the scrub and skin a pleasant smell.
Give Dark Hair A Serious Shine
Create your own hair mask that will leave dark hair super shiny.
Mix a tablespoon of cooled coffee grounds in with two tablespoons of your favourite conditioner. Massage into your hair and use a wide-tooth comb to comb the hair mask through to the ends. Let it sit for 5 minutes and then rinse thoroughly. For extra shiny hair use cool water when you rinse!
Repel Mosquitoes Naturally
Certain compounds in coffee have proven to be highly toxic to insects. Making coffee grounds effective at deterring mosquitos, fruit flies and beetles, they may even help keep other pests away too.
You have a few options, you can either set out bowls of grounds or sprinkle them around outdoor seating areas. This will also help create a barrier that slug sand snails do not like to crawl over.
You can also place a layer of dry coffee grounds about ½ “ deep in a tin pie dish.Add one or two drops of charcoal lighter fluid. Light with a long match or long-necked lighter. After about a minute or two once the grounds are smoking on their own, smother with a damp paper towel. The coffee grounds will keep burning, and you can enjoy the outdoors bug-free.
Be careful when handling fire and keep away from pets and children.
Cold Brew & Espresso Capsules
Aluminium is infinitely recyclable which makes it extremely versatile. An estimated 76% of all aluminium ever produced is still in use today, according to the European Aluminum Association. That means our cold brew cans can live many lives, we hope for something cool!
Our capsules are highly sustainable, made with Capsul’In Zero Impact technology, the world’s first to be certified for at-home composting!
You should have a recycling station near you, but if you don’t, here are some clever DIY inspirations for your next aluminium project, or your kids’.
Our distinct black, green and white packaging will make for some fun and creative projects! Think outside the box, from pots for your plants to toys for your kids or even candles. There’s so much more life in these cans to give.
You can find detailed instructions on how to make these fun crafts on Pinterest.
Remember, your cup of coffee is just halfway through the life cycle, don’t let it end in the bin, have fun keeping the story going!