Coffee: one of your dearest friends. It greets you warmly in the morning and gives you the extra pep you need on your life-long mission to save the planet. You’ve recycled paper and plastic, shopped at thrift stores and used your canvas tote for groceries all before you’ve consumed your third cup. You’re not alone in using this magical beverage to give you the gas to keep going. In fact more than 150 million people drink at least one cup of coffee a day. That’s a lot of coffee drinkers, and a lot of coffee grounds that are just so carelessly thrown in the trash every day. Here are some great ways you can reuse your coffee grounds and really help the environment.
Use as a deodorizer. Coffee grounds, like baking soda, have the ability to neutralize foul odors lingering in your house. Simply let the used coffee grounds dry out by spreading them evenly on a plate or baking sheet for a few minutes. Then place the dried coffee grounds inside a clean sachet, bowl or nylon ball and place it in the fridge, closet, near the trash or even in your shoes to remove unwanted smells. If you’re cooking with ingredients that can leave a lingering smell on your hands such as onion and garlic, coffee grounds can also remove these types of smells as well. All you have to do is rub the coffee grounds into your hands and wash them as you normally would, rinsing them with warm water.
Use as a Scratch Remover. If you add a little water to some coffee grounds it will create a paste. This paste acts as a wonderful brown stain that you can use to remove scratches on your dark-wood furniture. Just rub the paste in on the desired area, such as the leg of a chair, and work in a circle motion until the scratch is buffed out. Then wipe the portion clean.
Use as a Pet Shampoo. If you mix coffee grounds with water you can also use this paste as a pet shampoo. The paste will leave your pet’s coat extra shiny, odor free and will help kill off fleas. This paste can have the same affect on human hair. Leave the paste on your wet mane for about 10 to 20 minutes before rinsing with cool water for lustrous hair.
Use as an Exfoliater. If you mix about one cup of coffee grounds with a fourth cup of body oil or lotion, the mixture can be used as a body scrub. Just slather the mixture on extremely dry patches of skin like your elbows and heels and wash away with warm water.
Use as a Fertilizer/Insect repellant –Sprinkling coffee grounds into your pre-soiled flower pots won’t only help your plants grow faster, but it will also scare away unwanted bugs.
Use to Make More Coffee. Yes, used coffee grounds can be used to make a second pot of coffee. While some say they don’t like to do this because it doesn’t taste as fresh, other says the taste difference is only minimal.
Author bio:
This guest post is contributed by Kitty Holman, who writes on the topics of nursing schools. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: kitty.holman20@gmail.com.
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