15 ways to use coffee grounds in an eco-friendly way

More than 400 million cups of coffee are consumed every day around the world. At the same time, most of the waste from it is thrown into the trash, while they can be reused. 

Coffee grounds are a valuable organic raw material that has many useful properties. It is good for the skin and hair, helps in the fight against unpleasant odors and garden pests, and also replaces many household home care products.

1. Fertilizer for plants

Coffee grounds make an excellent fertilizer for plants. It is especially suitable for fruit trees and flowers: roses, azaleas, rhododendron, hydrangeas and camellias. Coffee adds acidity to the soil and repels pests. The grounds can be added to compost or water for watering plants. If you mix carrot seeds with boiled coffee before sowing, they will germinate faster, and the fruits themselves will be sweeter and more nutritious.

2. Hand and refrigerator deodorant

The rich aroma of coffee can eliminate unpleasant odors. For example, you can wipe your hands with wet coffee grounds after cooking with onions or garlic. And dry brewed coffee is perfect for deodorizing the refrigerator. You need to pour the grounds into a glass jar and put it on one of the shelves. Coffee will eliminate all unpleasant odors inside the chamber and replace the soda that is usually used for this purpose.

3. Garden pest repeller

The coffee smell is unpleasant for some animals and insects. This is useful in the garden to scare away various pests from the flower beds and beds — for example, cats from the neighboring plot. To do this, mix the coffee grounds with orange peel and distribute the resulting powder around the plants that suffer from excessive attention of uninvited guests. Coffee grounds also repel slugs and snails that eat garden crops. It can be used in the fight against ants, filling up the thickening anthills growing on the site.

4. Flea remedy

Brewed coffee will also help in the fight against fleas in dogs. To do this, rub the grounds into the wet fur of the pet after washing. The rich smell will scare away parasites.

5. Air freshener

Coffee grounds can be added to a vase of flowers. It will fit seamlessly into the overall composition, becoming a natural decorative filler, and also act as an air freshener that can be used in the bathroom, toilet or living room. Water in such a flower arrangement can not be added, and therefore it is better to use dried flowers for it. For example, lavender, which is more fragrant in dry form than in fresh.

6. Anti-cellulite mask

Caffeine improves blood circulation and removes excess fluid from the body. Thanks to this property, it is useful in the fight against cellulite. For a therapeutic mask, you need to mix coffee grounds with olive oil, wine or ginger oil. Then apply the resulting mass to the problem areas of the body and massage them in circular movements with a brush or sponge. The procedure should be repeated once or twice a week. With the help of a coffee mask, you can save a lot of money on visiting a spa, where a similar massage course will cost 20-30 thousand rubles.

7. Powder for washing dishes

Thanks to its rough structure, coffee grounds perfectly wipe off dried dirt and food residues. It can be used to wash pots and pans instead of baking soda and household chemicals, which are dangerous for people and the environment.

8. Anti-hair loss mask

With the help of coffee grounds, you can massage the scalp. This strengthens the hair roots and promotes their growth. The procedure should be carried out before washing your hair, taking a little ground coffee and gently rubbing it into the skin moistened with water. After 10-15 minutes, the mask can be washed off. Over time, the hair will gain strength and stop falling out. Coffee mask is not recommended for blondes, as coffee is a natural dye and can give the hair a dark shade.

9. Hair dye

Strong brewed coffee can be used as a dye for dark hair — both natural and colored. In the case of the former, it makes the color more saturated and deep, in the case of the latter, it retains the shade of the pigment that was used for coloring. Coffee grounds are also recommended to be added to henna. This gives the hair a darker, copper shade, which looks nobler than red.

To better fix the color, it is recommended to add freshly brewed coffee grounds to the hair conditioner, apply it to the entire length and leave it under the bath cap for 15-20 minutes. After that, you must thoroughly wash your hair. In addition, boiled coffee can be added to shampoos. Another option is to rinse your hair with a chilled decoction of strong coffee.

10. Dye for eggs, paper and fabrics

Coffee perfectly colors not only hair, but also fabrics. With it, you can age the paper and make a natural dye for Easter eggs. The final color will depend on the concentration of the solution: the more coffee grounds you add to the water when boiling, the richer the shade will be. To make the dye, you need to boil the coffee, decant it and cool the resulting infusion.

Then you can cook eggs and fabrics in it. The first within 10 minutes, the second-half an hour. It is better to pre-soak textiles in water and not squeeze them out at the end, so that they are colored evenly. It is enough to hold the paper in the coffee broth for a few minutes, and then dry it.

11. Masking scratches on furniture

The coloring properties of coffee can be useful in another case — masking scratches and scuffs on wooden furniture. To do this, prepare a rich coffee solution from the boiled grounds, dip a cotton pad in it and rub the natural dye into the scratch until it merges with the rest of the furniture surface. This recipe only works in the case of dark furniture.

12. Anti-slip on the sidewalk

Unlike salt, which is dangerous for the environment and the shoes of citizens, coffee grounds are absolutely harmless to the environment. At the same time, it can become a worthy alternative to chemicals that are used in winter to combat slippery ice. In addition, natural raw materials attract the sun's rays and accelerate the process of snow melting.

13. Body and face scrub

Coffee grounds are perfect for a natural scrub. In it, you need to add a little olive oil, which nourishes and moisturizes the skin well. In addition, the oil will make the consistency of the scrub more gentle and soft, without impairing its exfoliating properties. Coffee scrub is also recommended before going to the beach or to the solarium. Thanks to it, the tan falls more evenly.

14. Anti-puffiness eye mask

From ground coffee, you can make a nutritious face mask if you add two tablespoons of cocoa, one tablespoon of honey and three tablespoons of milk or yogurt to two tablespoons of ground coffee. The resulting mass should be applied to the face, gently massaging the skin, and leave for 15-20 minutes, until the mixture dries. The coffee mask narrows the pores, reduces redness of the face and removes excess fat from the skin, making it matte and elastic. In addition, coffee removes puffiness and puffiness under the eyes, and honey and milk moisturize the skin well.

15. Natural lifting

Another mask with coffee will replace the expensive cosmetic lifting in the beauty salon. For it, you need to mix a quarter of a glass of coffee grounds with one egg white and apply the resulting mass to the face with massaging movements. After the mask dries, you can safely wash it off. A similar procedure in the spa will cost several thousand rubles.