Coffee: Not Just For A Jolt Anymore There is nothing more satisfying than finding new ways to use everyday products.  I try to think about the items I use on a daily basis that are then tossed away.  We need change our ways of thinking about what is truly waste, and what doesn’t need to be deemed as such.  I’ll start with my early morning routine:  after my pre-sunrise workout, I head home for my morning jolt of caffeine.  Ahhhh, coffee.  Nothing like the feeling of that first sip of hot coffee being fed into my bloodstream!  But what to do with the remains? Now there is a product that can have many lives.  Daily, I take my coffee grounds and dump them into my bushes and flower pots. ( I used to attempt to throw my grounds into the trash, but much of it would end up on the floor.)  As I was looking for other coffee grounds uses, I came across,  My Zero Waste, where they suggest how to reuse these precious dark brown granules.  Here’s a sampling of their fabulously handy ideas: • Eco exfoliant Used coffee grounds are a great natural exfoliant for the skin! Simply apply, massage onto the skin and rinse. • Because you’re worth it Who’d have thought it? Coffee actually makes a great hair rinse! If you have darker hair, use leftover coffee as a final hair rinse to add super shine. • Slugs and snails Used coffee grounds can you help keep bugs at bay by acting as a repellent for snails and slugs. • Furniture care Now you see it…now you don’t – remove small scratches on furniture with wet coffee grounds. To read the blog in its entirety, click here. If your daily pot of coffee doesn’t produce enough grounds to fill your garden to your liking, stop by your local Whole Foods where they (may) offer free bagged coffee grounds to take!   DIY Life recommends: “You can make brown dye for clothing, paper, or even eggs for Easter by steeping grounds in hot water. To find out how to dye your clothing, read this” Essortment.com suggests: Make some fun play dough for your kids out of those old coffee grounds. Just mix a couple of cups of dried coffee grounds with a half a cup of salt and 1 to 2 cups of corn meal. Add in enough warm water to get the dough to the consistency you like. Kids will like the different texture and they can model it just like clay. Rid your pets of fleas with old coffee grounds. Shampoo your dog or cat as usual and when they are wet rub their fur down thoroughly with coffee grounds. Massage the coffee grounds all the way to their skin and work them in. Rinse the coffee grounds away and your pet’s fur will be soft and clean and the fleas will disappear. Eureka Alert wrote back in 2008, “Researchers in Nevada are reporting that waste coffee grounds can provide a cheap, abundant, and environmentally friendly source of biodiesel fuel for powering cars and trucks.” Tags: biofuel, change, changes, climate change, coffee, coffee grounds, compost, earth promise, earthpromise, environment, environmental, environmental footprint, environmental issues, global warming, green, green changes, green living, recycle, recycling, reduce, reuse, waste, zero-waste

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