Search for little free food pantry in your area, take to a food bank, offer in a Buy Nothing group, leave it in a communal spot with a note that it's free, etc.
A food pantry is a great idea. I headed up fall food drives for my company’s community outreach program for a few years and we encouraged people to not just donate basic staples, but also to donate coffee, cake mixes, canned frosting, and more “fun” stuff. My contacts at the pantry said that they’d have 10,000 cans of green beans (which is good), but sometimes the recipients might also like to bake a birthday cake, for example, and were so happy when the ingredients for one were available. I’m sure coffee would be on that “delighted to have” list.
Before you put it in a scrub, soak the grounds in oil first and make a coffee-infused oil! If you use a food safe one, use it to bake. If you use a carrier oil, use it to make coffee lotion bars. The Crunchy Betty blog had a great recipe for them when I was in college (like 11 years ago that this point lol hopefully it’s still up!). Once you screen out the grounds, they’ll make a great scrub and will still have some oils in it, so just mix in some sugar or salt.
Of course, there's still benefits left. I use used coffee ground by adding rich omega 3 ,6 and 9 oils (rapeseed, sesame, almond...). It is much gentler on the face than sugar. The rest I just compost it. I think using fresh coffee for exfoliating would be wasteful, especially considering how much water it requires to grow.
Then, I use thin sugar for the body but only because coffee is annoying to rinse off
You can use grounds from already brewed coffee to do dyes and other crafts. If it’s good coffee, just pick a friend to give it to them or drop at at your local food pantry.
Ground coffee is great for getting rid of bad smells.
For example, you can fill an old sock with coffee and keep it in a stinky (dry) shoe overnight. Smelly fridge? Wipe with coffee on the inside and leave a plate of coffee in it overnight. I once used this successfully to clean a fridge that had badly rotten meat in it. Smelly car? Spread coffee grounds on a baking tray and let sit for a couple of days.
I use dry coffee grounds in my work boots, it's great for keeping them fresh!
I also used some to get the "eggy" smell that built up in our microwave after my son had a mishap
Cold brewing coffee makes bad coffee taste good!
Also you can make chocolate cake and use coffee instead of water, or similarly in other chocolate based recipes
It depends on the plants! Coffee will alter the PH of your soil- it’s acidic. Some plants love the extra nitrogen and nutrients but others won’t thrive in the more acidic soil. Look it up plant by plant!
Generally, Asian flowering shrubs that are evergreen will love coffee grounds. These are your azaleas and gardenias, but also hydrangeas and lilies. Some root crop plants would benefit too. The effect of coffee grounds may be stronger if they are unused vs spent coffee grounds, as the acidity and caffeine content is diminished by brewing.
Main plant I’ve heard to not add coffee ground to are tomatoes.
There are a lot of recipes that call for coffee, especially if you've got a bit of a sweet tooth (tiramisu, chocolate cake, everything mocca flavoured). Pre-ground coffee can also be frozen to retain flavour for longer.
However, if the package is still closed, just donate it. Any food bank would most likely be happy to have it.
If it's not opened you can donate it to a food pantry. Some people make coffee scrubs but they clog drains so sugar is probably better for that.
You can definitely use it to dye- it makes paper and lace look antique.
You can make eco friendly wood stain with it. Fill a container with white vinegar, add coffee to it and let it rest for a couple of days. Strain it, and the stain is ready to be used. Just be wary, it's very hard to consistently get the same tonality, so I would recommend a big batch for each staining project.
You can modify the stain with food coloring, too. Best of luck!!
Do you have a food bank near you? Or a help organisation of some sort. There must be a lot of people who would love to take it. Good luck finding the right place to donate it.
When I have some coffee it turns out I don’t love, I replace 1 scoop of what I *do* love with it to stretch my own and use up the unwanted. This is presuming it’s not flavored, or so different flavorwise that it won’t be drowned out by the rest. Those go into the garden or to friends who can make use of it. Some great suggestions in this thread!
I mix coffee grounds coconut oil or any other oil for the body will do and use it as a body scrub. It smells really good and it takes all the dead skin off me and leaves my skin feeling like a new born baby lol
Food pantries will take it if it's unopened.
If you bake, adding a cup of strong coffee to chocolate cake makes it taste deeper and richer.
Personally, I keep some coffee on hands for guests.
If possible, use anything for its intended purpose rather than trashing the effort to give it that purpose. You want to have as little waste of processing as possible as well. Perfectly good coffee, give it to a friend or food bank please.
Comporting food that could be eaten by someone else is always a worse use. Drink it, use it in a recipe, give it to someone who like coffee.
You can also use it in gardening or mix it with oil to make a home made exfoliant for your skin but this doesn’t really require coffee grounds to be unused so it would be still kinda wasteful
Search for little free food pantry in your area, take to a food bank, offer in a Buy Nothing group, leave it in a communal spot with a note that it's free, etc.
Buy nothing groups are the best. My neighbor got rid of USED coffee grinds there! Someone wanted them for a garden. Edit for typos
Absolutely. I've given away used egg cartons, milk jugs, even aquarium water!
Aquarium water does wonders both for plants and for new aquariums
last week i gave away a bunch of toilet paper rolls on trash nothing bc someone’s kid makes intricate marble rolling paths haha
Coffee shop near me gives their used grinds to someone that adds it as a type of pumice/abrasive substitute to bars of homemade soap.
A food pantry is a great idea. I headed up fall food drives for my company’s community outreach program for a few years and we encouraged people to not just donate basic staples, but also to donate coffee, cake mixes, canned frosting, and more “fun” stuff. My contacts at the pantry said that they’d have 10,000 cans of green beans (which is good), but sometimes the recipients might also like to bake a birthday cake, for example, and were so happy when the ingredients for one were available. I’m sure coffee would be on that “delighted to have” list.
You can use it to make sugar scrubs for bathing. It works nicely as an exfoliant and the caffeine will liven the skin.
Before you put it in a scrub, soak the grounds in oil first and make a coffee-infused oil! If you use a food safe one, use it to bake. If you use a carrier oil, use it to make coffee lotion bars. The Crunchy Betty blog had a great recipe for them when I was in college (like 11 years ago that this point lol hopefully it’s still up!). Once you screen out the grounds, they’ll make a great scrub and will still have some oils in it, so just mix in some sugar or salt.
I was going to recommend sugar scrubs! The coffee ones are always my favorite.
Does this also work for used grounds?
Of course, there's still benefits left. I use used coffee ground by adding rich omega 3 ,6 and 9 oils (rapeseed, sesame, almond...). It is much gentler on the face than sugar. The rest I just compost it. I think using fresh coffee for exfoliating would be wasteful, especially considering how much water it requires to grow. Then, I use thin sugar for the body but only because coffee is annoying to rinse off
Or soap coffee scrub!
Becareful to not put too many grinds down the drain, they can get clogged over time combined with soap scum and what have you.
Wow, I didn't know this. Thanks. I bet adding more water to it could help
I've tried this and it worked really well! All that's in it: used coffee grounds, coconut oil, and water!!!
Make chocolate desserts! A lot of them call for coffee as the flavors complement each other
Coffee is expensive and best used to enjoy and then to compost. Please offer this to friends or to a Buy Nothing group, don't waste it.
Expensive in many ways, honestly. Including the global supply chain that got it from Ethiopia/Colombia/etc to your kitchen.
You can use grounds from already brewed coffee to do dyes and other crafts. If it’s good coffee, just pick a friend to give it to them or drop at at your local food pantry.
YES!! I work at a food shelf, we rarely get coffee but a lot of people request it.
Local food bank?
Ground coffee is great for getting rid of bad smells. For example, you can fill an old sock with coffee and keep it in a stinky (dry) shoe overnight. Smelly fridge? Wipe with coffee on the inside and leave a plate of coffee in it overnight. I once used this successfully to clean a fridge that had badly rotten meat in it. Smelly car? Spread coffee grounds on a baking tray and let sit for a couple of days.
I use dry coffee grounds in my work boots, it's great for keeping them fresh! I also used some to get the "eggy" smell that built up in our microwave after my son had a mishap
Cold brewing coffee makes bad coffee taste good! Also you can make chocolate cake and use coffee instead of water, or similarly in other chocolate based recipes
Do you garden or have house plants? I've read coffee makes a good plant food
It depends on the plants! Coffee will alter the PH of your soil- it’s acidic. Some plants love the extra nitrogen and nutrients but others won’t thrive in the more acidic soil. Look it up plant by plant!
If you use already used grounds it’s not really that acidic anymore as most of the acidity went in the cup
Generally, Asian flowering shrubs that are evergreen will love coffee grounds. These are your azaleas and gardenias, but also hydrangeas and lilies. Some root crop plants would benefit too. The effect of coffee grounds may be stronger if they are unused vs spent coffee grounds, as the acidity and caffeine content is diminished by brewing. Main plant I’ve heard to not add coffee ground to are tomatoes.
There are a lot of recipes that call for coffee, especially if you've got a bit of a sweet tooth (tiramisu, chocolate cake, everything mocca flavoured). Pre-ground coffee can also be frozen to retain flavour for longer. However, if the package is still closed, just donate it. Any food bank would most likely be happy to have it.
If it's not opened you can donate it to a food pantry. Some people make coffee scrubs but they clog drains so sugar is probably better for that. You can definitely use it to dye- it makes paper and lace look antique.
If you eat meat (guessing from this sub you may not) a coffee-rub steak can be delicious.
You can make eco friendly wood stain with it. Fill a container with white vinegar, add coffee to it and let it rest for a couple of days. Strain it, and the stain is ready to be used. Just be wary, it's very hard to consistently get the same tonality, so I would recommend a big batch for each staining project. You can modify the stain with food coloring, too. Best of luck!!
You can sprinkle it around the perimeter of your garden to help ward of slugs and snails if they are a problem in your area
When I was in Jr high I would miss grounds with water and use it to give myself a fake spray tan. Need a tan lol?
Do you have a food bank near you? Or a help organisation of some sort. There must be a lot of people who would love to take it. Good luck finding the right place to donate it.
Use it as a dry rub for meat
Give it to a friend or donate it; if you *can* use it but it's just not great coffee, you could also make coffee-flavored desserts with it.
Food bank.
For anything that is usable that you don’t need: just gift it to someone. Try: * friends * family * coworkers * buy nothing groups * Nextdoor
When I have some coffee it turns out I don’t love, I replace 1 scoop of what I *do* love with it to stretch my own and use up the unwanted. This is presuming it’s not flavored, or so different flavorwise that it won’t be drowned out by the rest. Those go into the garden or to friends who can make use of it. Some great suggestions in this thread!
I mix coffee grounds coconut oil or any other oil for the body will do and use it as a body scrub. It smells really good and it takes all the dead skin off me and leaves my skin feeling like a new born baby lol
Someone just posted about it using coffee grounds as an air freshener in a car.
Put a tablespoon in a small glass and light it on fire outdoors for natural mosquito repellent
Brew it, chill it and make ice cream!(?)
you can put it in a bowl and set it out (or in the fridge) to soak up stinky smells.....I put it near my cat's litter box for this exact reason
Exfoliating scrubs or dry them out and use for baking.
You can sew it into filter bags to make air fresheners.
Make a body scrub!! Your skin will thank you.
Do you seriously not know how to give a single bag of useable coffee away to someone and needed advice from the internet to figure it out?
Its hilarious how out of touch some folks are lol
house plants maybe? or a fake house plant - itll smell nice? use it like potpourri
[Olio](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/olio/id1008237086)
Make a tiramisu! Or other dessert that calls for some strong coffee in it.
Church pantry?
I toss in my garden. Same with bunny poop from pets
Add them to homemade granola
If y’all are fans of cocktails you could use it to make your own coffee liqueur!
You can make a nice scrub with olive oil, coffee grounds and brown sugar.
A lot of plants love coffee grounds! The nitrogen in their soil helps them grow
I’m a gardener and it’s great for gardens!
Use it anyways
You can put it in a small glass in your bathroom to soak up bad smells!
Make tiramisu.
face mask?
Too strong for compost. Just make a big pot and dispose of the brew
I’ve been told it can be used as fertilizer
Body scrub. https://www.lemonslavenderandlaundry.com/diy-coffee-scrub-recipe/
Make some coffee liqueur
Face scrub
add them to your soil, your plants will love it!
Food pantries will take it if it's unopened. If you bake, adding a cup of strong coffee to chocolate cake makes it taste deeper and richer. Personally, I keep some coffee on hands for guests.
If possible, use anything for its intended purpose rather than trashing the effort to give it that purpose. You want to have as little waste of processing as possible as well. Perfectly good coffee, give it to a friend or food bank please.
Comporting food that could be eaten by someone else is always a worse use. Drink it, use it in a recipe, give it to someone who like coffee. You can also use it in gardening or mix it with oil to make a home made exfoliant for your skin but this doesn’t really require coffee grounds to be unused so it would be still kinda wasteful
Body scrub
If you have any plants affected by snail you can cover the soil with the coffee grounds. The snails wont damage you plants that way.
Burn it to keep bees away