Got leftover coffee grounds piling up? Before you dump them in the trash, here are five practical, simple ways to put that leftover grit to good use around your house and garden.
Coffee grounds double as a natural pest barrier in the yard. Scattering them over garden beds or around potted plants helps keep ants, snails, and slugs at bay. You can even build a small ring of ground around vulnerable plants to block crawling pests just keep in mind that as the ground breaks down, it’ll raise the soil’s acidity. Coffee grounds are fantastic at soaking up unwanted smells. The nitrogen in coffee reacts with sulfur in the air to pull odors out of the room and trap them. Place a small, shallow bowl of dried grounds in the back of your fridge to wipe out stale food smells, or toss a bowl in a closet to clear out musty air. The naturally coarse, abrasive texture of coffee grounds makes them ideal for scrubbing off stubborn, caked-on food residue without scratching up your cookware. Grab a scouring pad, add a couple of drops of dish soap, sprinkle a handful of grounds onto the pan, and scrub away the grime.