Spring has sprung, and Starbucks is working to ensure that the waste created by brewing the coffee that brings so many people to life is also used to give life. Through its Grounds for Your Garden program, customers at participating stores can snag a free bag of recycled coffee grounds to use as compost and garden boosters when they grab their morning cup of joe.
Coffee grounds are one of Starbucks' largest waste contributors, and the company started the program almost 30 years ago as part of its initiative to give back more than it takes from the planet. Even the bag the grounds come in is recycled — baristas put the grounds into empty espresso bean bags.
"We can keep valuable material out of landfills and put it to good use," said Jim Hanna, director of Starbucks' Global Responsibility team.
Keeping waste out of landfills is critical to reducing planet-warming pollution. Around 119 billion pounds of food is thrown away annually in the United States alone, making food the largest component of U.S. landfills.
As it decomposes, the waste releases pounds of methane, an extremely potent planet-warming gas. Using the grounds in a garden instead reduces this pollution. It also helps make plants healthier, and healthy plants suck carbon dioxide, another planet-warming pollutant, from the air.
Whether you're growing food or flowers, the grounds work to not only make plants healthier but also as a natural repellent to common garden pests like ants and slugs.
A blog post at Sunset.com delved into the results of using the coffee grounds in their gardening soil and also ran a soil lab analysis, reporting "generous amounts of phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, and copper," along with increased acidity and the eventual release of nitrogen.
If you don't have a garden but still want to help keep the grounds from the landfill, they can also be used in many ways around the house, including in baking and cooking, to make exfoliating scrubs, and to neutralize odors.
The program is available in participating stores worldwide; in the U.S., over half of all company-operated stores participate. This means there is a good chance you can pop into one near you and support this eco-friendly initiative.
If your local Starbucks does not and you would like it to, speak to a supervisor to give them that feedback so they know there are customers in the area who would come in for it.
"We continue to explore creative ways to engage our customers in our resource-positive journey — with coffee at the core — and reduce waste by 50 percent by 2030," said a company spokesperson.
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