Starbucks’s Grounds For Your Garden Program

According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, by 2010 worldwide coffee drinkers will drink almost 7 million tonnes of it every year. This means a heck of a lot of spent grounds to dispose of somewhere. Rather than throw the nitrogen-rich material (and acid-rich!) - coffee grounds have a carbon-nitrogen (C-N) ratio of 20-1 - into landfills, global chain Starbucks has found a greener solution by giving it away to consumers with gardens.

Starbucks’s Grounds for Your Garden program actually began as a grassroots initiative back in 1995. After growing steadily for almost a decade, it was officially launched in 2003, offering up free spent coffee grounds to North American customers year-round on a first come, first serve basis. Grounds are packaged in reused coffee bags and sealed with simple directions for using them in the garden or compost pile, where they can help improve soil quality.

“Coffee grounds are a valuable source of nutrition for the garden,” explains Ben Packard, director of environmental affairs for Starbucks. “Reusing coffee grounds in the garden is a great alternative to disposing this rich resource from our stores. It’s a win for gardeners and a win for Starbucks.”

[Via: Springwise]

Composting In Your Kitchen

The problem I found when having a small kitchen is that it’s almost impossible to compost due to space. It’s also a smelly job, though a company believes they’ve come up with a compact, non-smelly kitchen composter that doesn’t include worms or attract flies.

NatureMill, from San Francisco have come up with an indoor composter that is small enough to fit in regular kitchen cabinets, can process up to 120 lbs (55 kg) of organic waste per month, and uses just 10 watts of energy. Composting takes place inside a sealed inner chamber. Air is drawn into the chamber by a small fan, and a mixbar and heater keep the process moving along at the correct temperature. A red light indicates when the cure tray needs to be emptied - about once every two weeks - and the end-product is rich compost fertilizer. You can see a diagram of exactly how it works.

The units sell for $299–399. An outdoor version ($399) takes care of pet droppings, too: “for up to 2 large dogs, or 4 cats, rabbits, hamsters, snakes or other small animals.” NatureMills ships worldwide, but international shipping is expensive at the moment.

If you have a composter, please let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment or drop us a line.

[Via: Springwise]