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Avoid Using Coffee Grounds In These Areas Of Your Home
& Garden
By CAMILLE MOORE
Down The Drain
Dumping coffee grounds down the drain can be harmful to your plumbing. It can even lead to potentially costly repairs if done regularly for a long time.
After a while, coffee grounds that have been put down the drain can create a sludge-like substance that can lead to buildups, which ultimately clog your pipes.
Around Seedlings
Avoid adding non-decomposed coffee to the soil around any seedlings in your garden because the caffeine in coffee can slow down germination in certain species.
This is due to a process called allelopathy, which results in chemicals from the caffeine being released into the soil and suppressing the growth of nearby plants.
In Compost
There are benefits to adding coffee grounds to compost, but overloading it with grounds results in excess nitrogen that gives the pile a slimy texture and foul order.
According to the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, your compost should contain no more than 20% coffee grounds.
In Mulch
Mulch can be a good idea, but using only coffee grounds could have adverse effects on seedlings and other plants in your garden that may be sensitive to caffeine or acid.
Furthermore, an overly thick layer of pure coffee grounds can dry into a hard cake that water has a tough time re-saturating, which can hinder a plant’s healthy growth.
In The Garbage
Although throwing old coffee grounds in the trash might seem like a logical disposal method, you should reconsider, as it can actually be harmful to the environment.
When discarded coffee grounds are taken to landfills, they begin to decompose and release methane and a variety of other detrimental greenhouse gasses into
the atmosphere.