5 CREATIVE ECO-HACKS TO USE UP OLD COFFEE GROUNDS

I’m often looking for ways to make my life more sustainable for me and my son and this extends to every part of our home: from the toilet paper we use in our bathroom to the coffee we drink in our kitchen. Did you know that drinking coffee is actually a lot more eco-friendly than it used to be? Today, I’m going to talk about some simple eco hacks and changes you can make to ensure you make the most of every part of your coffee pods and grounds; helping you save money and help the environment along the way.

We have a Nespresso coffee machine but lots of compatible coffee pods aren’t easily recycled and since they’re single use, this can quickly lead to a lot of unnecessary waste. Halo Coffee-which are compatible with a Nespresso machine-aims to solve that with their nifty sustainable coffee pods. Firstly, I loved how easy they are to order online and they come straight through your letterbox so there’s no need to sign for a parcel. Once you’ve received your pods, the outer packaging can be chucked in with your regular recycling whilst everything else can be composted (more on that in a second!).

The great thing about Halo pods is that they can be composted. Now often we see the words ‘biodegradable’ and ‘compostable’ and don’t really understand what they mean. For example, we might think biodegradable is a great thing until we find out it only biodegrades in certain atmospheric conditions that are impossible to replicate in your back garden.

 Even the word ‘biodegradable’ doesn’t mean much if it will only biodegrade in very specific conditions that aren’t in your average garden or landfill site. However, the great thing about Halo’s pods is that they conform to the EN13432 standard so it doesn’t matter where they go, they’ll compost in around four weeks; even if that’s just in your regular landfill site. However, composting them in your garden is easy to do and means you know you’re giving them the best chance to break down.

We do a lot of gardening and it’s thought that adding coffee grounds to your soil and fertiliser is one way to help plants grow. We scoop out the grounds from our pods and just spread it on the soil (we only have a small garden) but  if you have one, you can add it to your compost pile (you can also add other parts of Halo’s packaging that aren’t recyclable like the sticky label ). It’s thought that mixing coffee grounds into the soil like we do, can even help deter slugs and snails from getting at your plants which is another great bonus!

The next way to use old coffee grounds is for face and body scrubs. I have really dry skin at the moment so I feel like I’m getting through a lot of scrubs lately! There’s lots of coffee scrubs on the market for good reason. Obviously, the art of scrubbing means coffee grounds are a really good exfoliant but caffeic acid is an antioxidant, which means it’s thought to help fight against aging and promote healthy skin. Hurrah! Making your own scrub is really easy and it means you can also add some extra naturally sourced ingredients that can also help with healthy skin; such as honey and yoghurt.

This is something I make quite often and store in reusable beauty pots. It doesn’t keep very long in the fridge-around a few days-so make as you go rather than in huge quantities. When you next recycle your pods; scoop out the coffee grounds from the used capsule. Add extra ingredients such as whole milk (great for calming red skin); lemon juice (great for brightening) and honey (an antimicrobial). For a step-by-step guide, click here for our Halo coffee facemask recipe (need the link?) that you can make at home: saving money, saving the environment and saving your skin.

If you’re looking to make sustainable changes, I’d definitely recommend Pinterest. It was on Pinterest I discovered a candle tutorial for using up leftover coffee grounds. This is done in the same way as you would ordinarily make a DIY-candle but you mix in leftover coffee grounds with your wax to make a coffee-scented candle instead. If you’re somebody who just loves the smell of freshly roasted coffee, why not capture that scent in your home?

We know coffee grounds can help scrub your face and body, but why not use it to scrub away at dirt too? Cleaning products are one part of our home that I’m really trying to make more ecofriendly. With a toddler, I am constantly cleaning up and I feel like I get through a lot of wipes and plastic cleaning products; so I’ve switched to using reusable baby wipes and trying to source refillable cleaning products. Apparently coffee can actually work as a degreaser: by mixing it with warm water, adding to a cleaning cloth and scrubbing away. Another hack I discovered is using coffee grounds in the fridge. Yep, the fridge! If you’ve got any lingering unpleasant smells in your fridge that won’t shift, it’s thought keeping a bowl of coffee in there will get rid of it. This is because coffee grounds absorb odours so it will keep the fridge smelling neutral rather than of the coffee beans like you’d expect!

I hope these hacks have inspired you to be a little more eco-friendly and make the most of every part of your Halo coffee pod!