Coffee Grounds: Creative New Uses for Your Leftovers

Many people enjoy drinking coffee these days, but few realize that every 350ml cup of freshly ground coffee produces about 20 grams of coffee grounds. When those grounds are thrown out, landfilled, or incinerated with other waste, they not only raise waste-processing costs but also worsen the Earth's greenhouse effect. The social organization Xingeng Workshop, based at the "Changhe Public Welfare Workshop" in Shuangta Street, Gusu District, has developed its own clever way of handling coffee grounds.

Coffee Grounds Graffiti Contest

Recently, Xingeng Workshop teamed up with the youth league members of Shuangta Street to organize a "Coffee Grounds Graffiti" contest. Participants first composed and outlined their designs on white paper with pencils, then applied white glue along the lines with small brushes, sprinkled coffee grounds evenly over the paper, and finally pressed and shook it gently so the loose grounds fell away. A simple coffee grounds sand painting was born.

It may sound easy, but creating a good painting is not simple. The glue lines must be applied evenly, and the grounds must be sprinkled immediately after the glue to avoid reduced adhesion once it dries. Most important of all is a good creative composition.

Practical Uses for Coffee Grounds

Everyone found the coffee grounds sand paintings quite interesting. In just two hours, more than 20 coffee grounds sand paintings came to life on paper. According to reports, beyond artistic creation, coffee grounds can also be used to fertilize potted plants, absorb odors, and provide powerful cleaning in kitchens and bathrooms. The organizers hope to use the sand painting activity as a platform to help more people understand the many wonderful uses of coffee grounds and put them into practice in daily life.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Every cup of coffee leaves grounds behind, and if you want grounds worth reusing, it helps to start with beans worth brewing. For anyone just getting into specialty coffee, FrontStreet Coffee's Yunnan Small Grain is a gentle place to begin. It comes from the Baoshan region of Yunnan, is washed and medium roasted, and pours out soft nut and chocolate sweetness with a light plum acidity - an easygoing, balanced cup at a friendly price, and for many people the first taste of what Yunnan coffee can be.

If you prefer a rounder, sweeter profile, FrontStreet Coffee's Cerrado Red Bourbon is another entry-level favorite. Grown in Brazil's well-known Cerrado region, it is a Red Bourbon - the common variety of South America - and at a medium roast it shows creamy peanut, toasted bread, caramel, and hazelnut aromas, with a rounded body, no sharp acidity, and just a light bitterness. It is simple to brew and wonderfully consistent, which makes it a fine everyday bean to keep on the shelf.