“Geoff Tipton/istockphotoDCL
A lot of people already know coffee grounds are great for enriching soil with nitrogen, but if your gardens just can’t keep up with your coffee habit there are a ton of other great ways to put those grounds to use.
Kitty Be Gone
Keep the neighborhood felines out of your garden by sprinkling a mixture of coffee grounds and orange peels around the edges of plant beds. It’s not only beneficial for you and your garden—there are lots of plants that are harmful to cats.
Ant Control
It’s that time of year: Ant season. If you have an ant problem, sprinkle coffee grounds near doorways. How does it work? The nitrogen burns the ants’ legs so they won’t walk cross it. Some people cover ant holes with grounds, but I’m a little too softhearted for that.
Sow Seeds
If you want to grow lots of carrots or radishes, you can make your seeds go further by adding in coffee grounds. Let the grounds dry and then mix them with seeds. Plant the grounds with the seeds and your plants will actually grow in thicker.
Get Shiny Hair
Coffee grounds can add shine to your hair and condition it naturally. Work the grounds into clean, wet hair and massage for a few minutes, then rinse. You may want to do this outdoors in warm weather to keep your drains from becoming clogged. (And brunettes—you’ll get the added benefit of lovely highlights.)
Eliminate Odors Coffee absorbs scents from its environment, which makes it a fantastic natural deodorizer. Let the grounds dry, then pour them into a cup you can sit in your fridge or freezer. If you’ve been cooking with onion, garlic or other pungent foods, rub your hands in dry coffee grounds to remove smells. Cara Smusiak writes on behalf of Naturally Savvy.com about how to live a more natural, organic and green lifestyle.
