Here's a clever trick that'll transform your morning cup of joe while reducing waste: Use eggshells to make your coffee less bitter.
This simple hack improves your brew and gives those shells a second life before they hit the compost bin.
The scoop
This ingenious coffee hack comes from the TikTok account Sustainability Matters (@sustainabilitymattersva). Here's how it works.
@sustainabilitymattersva Eggshells and coffee? 🥚Believe it or not, adding crushed (cleaned) eggshells to your coffee grounds can help make a more mellow flavor for your morning cup of joe☕️And if adding crushed eggshells to your coffee is just too weird for you to try, you can also sprinkle them around your garden for a natural fertilizer 🌱 #foodwaste #eggs #eggshell #reuse #kitchenwaste #winchesterva #coffee #zerowaste ♬ original sound - Sustainability Matters
First, thoroughly wash used eggshells, especially considering the salmonella risk. Then, crush the clean shells into small pieces. Finally, add the crushed shells to your coffee grounds before brewing.
"Although I was extremely suspect of this, I like avoiding food waste whenever possible," Sustainability Matters' spokesperson says in the video. "I decided to give it a try and see if it was worth sharing, and honestly I was very pleasantly surprised."
The secret lies in eggshells' alkaline nature. When added to coffee grounds, they help balance out the acidity, resulting in a smoother, less bitter taste.
How it's helping
This hack helps both your wallet and the planet. By repurposing eggshells you'd normally toss, you cut down on food waste and save cold, hard cash on coffee shop visits. After all, who wants to spend $5 on a latte when you can brew a perfect cup right at home?
Plus, every bit of food waste kept out of landfills helps reduce harmful methane pollution. Particularly if you might otherwise purchase a separate coffee additive to tackle acidity, replacing that with something you'd otherwise throw away saves resources. It's a small step that adds up within the wider world of waste reduction.
Even better, you can also add the coffee grounds and eggshell mixture to your compost pile, further reducing your polluting impact and creating a sustainable, nutrient-rich soil that you can use in your garden. According to Oregon State University, an appropriate addition of coffee grounds to your compost helps provide nitrogen and can kill slugs. Eggshells, meanwhile, offer a calcium boost to your homemade fertilizer.
What everyone's saying
Coffee lovers and sustainability enthusiasts alike are excited about this trick, and they took to the comments section to say so.
One commenter exclaimed, "Wow! was not expecting that, can't wait to try."
Another chimed in, "that's cool you have such underrated content keep it up!"
Another user identified the caffeinated concoction: "old-fashioned cowboy coffee."
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