It is wonderful to know that there are so many people out there being creative with their used coffee grounds. To keep the number of participants growing, we have compiled a list of all the ideas we have heard on how to recycle your used coffee grounds. We saved our favourites for the end, and given instructions on how to initiate those activities.

Ways to Recycle Coffee Grounds

• Indoor and outdoor plant fertilizer
• Hair highlights for brown hair
• Hair gloss
• Ink for temporary tattoos
• Fragrant sachets for the garage, attic, shed, car or shoes
• Deodorize a freezer or refrigerator
• Burn in a fireplace to scent the air
• Make a marinade
• Meat tenderizer
• Fabric dye
• Clean pans
• Insect repellent
• Keep worms alive and promote their reproduction
• Stop cats from eliminating in the garden
• Arts and crafts projects
• Stuffing for pin cushion
• Hand scrub (removes odours from foods while exfoliating)
• Wood stain / Conceal scratches on wood
• Colour Easter eggs and baskets
• Sprinkle on sliding glass door base to keep insects out
• Ink for printer designed for such use
• Flea and tick scrub for dogs
• Sprinkle on top of icy walkways to great texture for safety
• Add to compost pile
• Clean the grill

Things you should NOT do with used coffee grounds:

• Wash down drains, it will clog them eventually
• Make grounds more than 25 percent of any compost pile

Our Favourite Recycling Ideas for Used Coffee Grounds

1.  Make Playdough

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 1 cup used coffee grounds
• 1/2 cup cool coffee (more or less depending on the wetness or dryness of the grounds)
• Mix them together to form the dough
• Then after playtime store it in a zip-lock bag or Tupperware

2.  Reduce Cellulite, Detox and Self Tan Simultaneously

• 1 cup warm used coffee grounds
• 1–2 tablespoons olive oil
• Newspapers
• Disposable plastic gloves
• Plastic wrap
• Cover your bathroom floor with newspaper
• Blend the olive oil and coffee grounds together
• Prepare skin by taking a hot shower and patting skin dry
• Place gloves on your hands and stand on the newspaper
• Apply the mixture to areas with cellulite in a circular motion
• Wrap cellulite area in plastic wrap
• Leave the wrap on for 5 minutes to allow skin to absorb colour and to detox at the same time
• Return to the shower and wash remaining mixture off

3.  Marinate Ribs

• 4-6 lbs of pork ribs
• 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 2 dried chile peppers cracked
• 2 jalapeno peppers chopped
• 1 bunch of cilantro chopped
• 2 sprigs of sage chopped
• 2 sprigs of oregano chopped
• 1 sprig of basil chopped
• 2 limes sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic chopped
• 1 dash of salt
• 1 tsp of paprika
• 1 tsp of mustard seed
• 1 dash of Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tablespoons of ketchup
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• 6 scoops of recently used coffee grounds
• Leave ribs in marinade for 24 hours