Looking for creative ways to go green around the house or the workplace? If you’re a coffee drinker, one of the steps you can take is to recycle your coffee grounds rather than just throwing them in the trash.
When mixed with soil, used coffee grounds can be a highly effective and potent fertilizer in Pampa, TX. They offer your plants an outstanding source of nutrition that you shouldn’t let go to waste. Not only is this beneficial for your gardens, but it also cuts down on the amount of waste that gets sent to landfills, and the less we can overload our landfills, the better it is for the environment.
Why it’s beneficial to recycle your coffee grounds
The big issue with coffee grounds going to landfills is that when they are dumped there, they create methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Methane is more harmful than carbon dioxide, another greenhouse gas that has contributed to global warming, so by keeping coffee grounds away from landfills, you’re also cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions.
In addition, it’s important to note that coffee grounds contain high levels of nitrogen, and when scattered across the soil before watering or rain, they’ll release that nitrogen into the soil. This means if you mix your coffee grounds with your compost, it will benefit from that nitrogen as well.
Compost that has been mixed with coffee grounds also allows the soil temperature to rise and stay warm for longer periods of time. Higher temperatures in the soil will kill off weeds, keeping your gardens growing and flourishing in a beautiful, healthy manner without invasive species. If you have plants that love more acidic soil, they’ll especially benefit from the use of coffee grounds, which are acidic themselves. Examples of some common garden plants and flowers that love acidic soil include roses, blueberries, camellias and azaleas—if you have these in your garden, you should be sure to spread your coffee grounds near them!
Recycling your coffee grounds also helps you give food to worms. The nutrients in used coffee grounds helps worms grow and reproduce. Having healthy, abundant worm populations is crucial to maintaining a healthy garden, as worms mix the soil and spread important minerals to your vegetation. Plus, the odor of coffee grounds can help you to keep troublesome insects away, as it acts as a natural repellent against ants, as well as snails and slugs, all of which could potentially damage your plants if their populations are left unchecked.
You can, of course, use your own coffee grounds for your composting purposes, but if you wish, you can also take coffee grounds from your workplace, or ask for used coffee grounds from local coffee shops, gas stations or schools. If you let them know you’re using them for composting purposes, they’ll often be happy to help.
For more information about some of the ways you can reuse coffee grounds as fertilizer in Pampa, TX, contact the team at Armstrong Coffee Service today.