Creative Uses for Coffee Grounds

BY LISA S.T. DOSS

Some titles have a way of screaming out directly to you, the reader! “Coffee” (above) undoubtedly grabbed your attention. It’s our absolute favorite drink, next to water, and is consumed by more than 150 million Americans, totaling 400 million cups per day. The staggering statistic creates an important question: as we know, drinking the caffeinated beverage promotes bodily health, invigorating the circulatory system and the skin, but are the grounds beneficial in other ways? Absolutely!

Removes Odors and Dirt

Similar to placing a box of baking soda in your refrigerator to absorb the odors, coffee grounds serve the same purpose. Use a cookie sheet, spreading out the granules evenly, allowing time to eliminate the moisture until dry; then, place the contents into a ventilated container, refreshing bimonthly. Additionally, keep a bucket of dried bits underneath your sink. Coffee is an ideal prurifer of pungent-smelling food items, as well as a sink cleaner!

TIP: Handmade soaps or body scrubs made with coffee grounds can also remove dry, dead skin cells, promoting a smooth appearance.

Enhancing Food

Beyond the filtration process, coffee grounds contain dietary fiber, antioxidants, and caffeine to help prevent harmful UV rays and avert illnesses. Of course, using the brewed granules in meals, whether it’s to enhance the flavor of chili, chocolate cake, barbecue sauces or gravy, is an experiment worth trying. Additionally, the dregs also contain an acidic enzyme similar to that of pineapple and papaya; therefore, apply a few tablespoons to marinade your favorite select cut of meat.

Improving Skin Care

Packed with antioxidants that help protect the skin from radical damage, studies prove coffee can prevent wrinkles and exposure to UV rays; therefore, take the spent grounds and incorporate them into handmade scrubs to exfoliate and soften the elbows, feet, and knees. Warning: Coffee granules can be harsh on sensitive skin; therefore, adjust the coffee proportions to suit your comfort level. Lightly apply to avoid irritation symptoms like redness or a stinging sensation.

Exfoliating Body Recipe: Mix ¼ cup each of coffee dregs, Epsom salt, and olive oil. Stir well; then, apply to your rough areas.

Exfoliating Facial Mask: Combine ¼ teaspoon of finely ground, spent coffee with one Tablespoon of vanilla or plain yogurt. Stir! Apply to the face and neck and allow to penetrate through the skin’s tissues for five minutes. Clean by dabbing the face with a warm washcloth; rinse with warm water. The reveal offers supple, bright skin. Use only once weekly!

Promoting a Shine to Dark Locks

Light to medium brunettes seeking shine and to accentuate undertones naturally can achieve these with time, patience, and coffee grounds. While several recipes are available online, consider using the following. Recipe: Steep two cups of dark, brewed grounds in four cups of hot water for 45 minutes; then strain and cool. Allow the infused water to soak into your locks for 20 minutes. Rinse. Repeat until you reach a preferred hue.

Adding a Natural Fertilizer to the Garden

Coffee grounds, sprinkled or tilled directly into the soil, improve drainage, aeration, and water retention, promoting plant growth and welcoming earthworms. Having a neutral pH, the grounds are ideal as mulch, deterring ants, slugs, snails, rabbits, and cats from garden beds. Most acid-loving plants (azaleas, blueberries, lilies, and hydrangeas) and root crops (carrots, leeks, radishes, and turnips) respond favorably upon use, offering bigger blooms or vegetables.

TIP: Add a few teaspoons to your watering can to boost your plants’ nutrients!

TIP: Excessive coffee dregs require a grand container, such as a composter. Along with enriching your coffee grounds with phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, and copper, toss in crushed eggshells, vegetable peels, shredded newspaper, pet hair, and grass clippings. The balance of green and brown plus water and sun will boost the nitrogen levels, helping to achieve that goal at the end of the decomposition process.

The next time you need a place for spent coffee grounds, consider repurposing them to improve the skin or hair follicles, or to benefit your home and garden! Cheers!

Have you heard about the Dolly Parton Imagination Library and its impact in Forsyth County? Over 13,000 kids in Forsyth County receive its FREE books every month in the mail! That is 60% of the kids that are eligible for this program!

Each month, the Dolly Parton Imagination Library (DPIL) provides an age-appropriate book (in Spanish or English) for each registered child in Forsyth County, absolutely free to the family. This program is locally managed by Smart Start of Forsyth County (SSFC).

SSFC provides an equitable early childhood system that fosters an environment for learning, growing, developing, and succeeding. Education begins at birth. As soon as a baby takes their first breath, they begin to gather and retain information about the world around them. Smart Start of Forsyth County exists to strengthen a child’s natural desire to learn. Smart Start is a nationally recognized program that assists families by preparing their young children (from birth through age five) for success in school and life. SSFC is also responsible for providing free resources to Early Childhood Educators across Forsyth County. DPIL is one of many of the resources that SSFC has to offer our community.

SSFC’s Chief Strategy Officer Garet Beane said, “Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library provides an efficient and effective strategy to promote literacy and a love of reading in Forsyth County. We are thrilled to offer these books in English and Spanish to all children from age birth to 5 years old. It is a great way for children to receive a special book in the mail addressed to them. It also gives them a wonderful opportunity to put their screens away and read their own books! We are thrilled to offer this valuable program to parents and children in our community in partnership with DPIL and the NC State Legislature.”

Improving early childhood literacy with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library creates opportunities for children to thrive and succeed in school, helping their communities grow and prosper. Research indicates every $1 a community invests in early childhood education yields a 13% return on investment per child annually through better education, economic, health, and social outcomes. To register a child for this free program, please visit www. SmartStart-FC.org

ABOUT DOLLY PARTON’S IMAGINATION LIBRARY

Since launching in 1995, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has become the preeminent early childhood book gifting program in the world. The flagship program of The Dollywood Foundation has gifted well over 150 million free books in Australia, Canada, The Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Imagination Library mails more than 1.8 million high-quality, age-appropriate books each month to registered children from birth to age five. Dolly envisioned creating a lifelong love of reading, inspiring them to dream. The program’s impact has been widely researched, and results suggest positive increases in key early childhood literacy metrics. Penguin Random House is the exclusive publisher for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. For more information, please visit imaginationlibrary.com.