Tags · Recycle
5 Uses for Empty Coffee Containers
Saturday, June 19th, 2010You can build up quite the collection of coffee containers, particularly if several people in your household are big coffee drinkers. Although I don’t drink anywhere near the coffee I used to while in the Navy, I still go through my share. What do you do with those empty containers? I’ll be adding to the list as time goes on, but for now, here are five ideas.
1. Coin storage. Whenever I come home with change in my pockets, I just toss it into a coffee container. While I haven’t taken my coins to a Coinstar yet, I think if I did, this would be a handy way to carry them; it’s a little heavy, but it works.
2. Kids’ storage. You can store anything from Legos to art supplies in these free containers. The slid snaps on and off for easy access. And if the kids break them, it’s really no big deal.
3. Water Plants. I like to use distilled water on my plants, so I’ll fill the coffee container up the night before I want to water. When I wake up the next morning, the water is ready to go in an easy-to-handle container.
4. Planters. I haven’t actually used a coffee container as a planter, but I don’t see why you couldn’t. I have some small coffee plants to transfer to new pots this weekend and I’m going to try putting one in a coffee container. Besides, I like the idea of growing coffee in a coffee container.
5. Nuts and Bolts. You may not want to fill a gallon coffee container with nuts and bolts, but theb smaller sizes work well for this.
Do you use your empty containers for something besides what I have listed? Let me know and I’ll add it to the list!
5 Ways to Recycle Used Coffee Grounds
Saturday, March 6th, 2010Why throw your used coffee grounds away when there are so many uses for them? Check out the list below to see if there are any ideas you can use for your old coffee grounds instead of just tossing them in the trash.
- Household
- Sprinkle coffee grounds around the edge of your house to repel ants.
- Plants. Add coffee grounds to your plants. This works in two ways:
- Fertilizer. Mix the coffee grounds directly in with the soil or soak them overnight in water. I used about 1/8 of a cup of grounds with 32 ounces of water – I let them sit in a plastic coffee container – then watered the plants. I have seen mixed claims as to whether coffee grounds are acidic or not. I will be looking into this further and I will post the results in the future. I have used this on coffee, banana, and evergreen plants with success.
- Insect repellent. Use the coffee grounds like the previous idea for fertilizer to also help keep bugs off your plants. My banana plant had tiny bugs and looked like it was going to die. I mixed some coffee grounds into the soil and used coffee water last week; I no longer see any bugs and the plant and already has 3 new sprouts.
- Smells. Coffee is a good odor absorber, and if you’re like me, it’s a good air freshener as well – although that’s more of the unused coffee grounds.
- Wash your hands with coffee grounds after you are done cooking with smelly foods like garlic or onions.
- Place 1-2 cups of dry coffee grounds in the refrigerator in an open container, such as a bowl or spread over a plate.