I've discovered that you just have to ask.

A couple of years ago, I noticed that a gas station on the way to and from work sold a lot of coffee. I was a bit hesitant about asking them for their UCGs (used coffee grounds), but one day decided that the worse they could say was no. I offered to provide the buckets and replace with clean ones on a daily basis.

They said 'yes', and at first was picking up less than a bucket per day, but now I'm up to 2 full buckets on a daily basis - about 300 lbs per week.

I do a lot of composting, mixing it with seaweed, shredded leaves and such. I also throw a lot on our lawn which used to look like a hangover in late July but now is lush and green.

I have an army of 20 buckets. Throughout the week I collect the UCGs, and on the weekend use them as I feel. Good stuff!!

Tiffy

Some serious composter you are

I have thought to ask for coffee ground, but always think it would be to much trouble for the shop.
But, you both are inspirational

Thanks

Members at my garden group have discussed this and some of them pick up the grounds from Tim Hortons after clearing it with the manager of the store. They did provide their own containers as well.

No donut shops around here, (thank-goodness, LOL) but I do collect my grounds at the hospital I work at.

I take at least 2-3 ice-cream buckets home every other day.
The gals laugh at me when I take my ice-cream pails home, but they sure don't laugh when they come touring the garden ;)

Sharon

Thanks, I feel a lot better knowing it is possible to collect this stuff from coffee shops. I plan to approach them and get coffee grounds from now on. I might add a "No Frills" in the east end of Toronto on Kingston Road and Midland trims vegetables and lettuce and they get tremendous amount of vegetable matter. When I inquired what is done with it I was told a farmer picks it up and they don't give it out to people like us. Gardeners that is.

If it helps at all to make your case to your local Starbucks, we picked up used grounds, all nicely packaged and waiting for any takers, here in Montreal.

Yes, I get mine from Starbucks in downtown Toronto.

Funny story... I left the office and headed to my car and was juggling my purse, briefcase, computer bag and a big silver bag of coffee grounds from Starbucks. They put it in the bags the coffee beans come in, so it's nice and shiny and new looking. I figured I would set the bag containing the grounds down underneath the back bumper of my car so I could walk 30 feet to the lot attendant without being so encumbered. As I was shoving the bag underneath my car, this 50 year old d00d parks his brand new SUV next to me. I walked to the lot attendant, paid my 12 bux to park, turned around and lo and behold, my bag of coffee grounds was gone! A woman came racing up to me, saying the man who just parked his SUV threw the silver bag in his trunk and left in a hurry.

I laughed hard and long over that one... the jerk. I can only imagine his face as he opened his treasure at home :)

I laughed hard and long over that one... the jerk. I can only imagine his face as he opened his treasure at home :)

That is so funny!

Holy cow - that has to be the funniest thing I've heard in a while! Too bad your grounds were stolen, but yeah, the thief must have been pissed when he opened it :-)

Too bad it wasn't rotten onions or broccoli...

BP

Krystine,

I would have paid dearly to see the look on his face when he got home and opened the package! So prescious it would have been!! :)

That is quite funny. He got what he deserves, thinking he was stealing coffee beans.

I have not had any luck getting Tim Hortons or chain coffee shops to give me grounds. I have gotten them from small private coffee shops, as long as I was willing to pick up and replace my own containers so it didn't add any extra time or work for them. I told them to just dump the whole thing, filters and all in the bucket. I put the filters in the composter.

I've never used coffee grounds before but we produce a full 12 cup filter everyday. Can anyone tell me how you use them and what it's beneficial for? Do you compost or can you just mix them into your soil?

Thanks,
Lakshmi

I'm in the middle of Toronto. In my area, Timothys and Starbucks both dump the grounds back into the coffee packaging and it's first come, first served. Just ask.

Lakshmi,

Coffee grounds can add to the quality of your soil as most compost and peat materials do. It's something we use everyday and so instead of throwing these grounds away, it can be recycled for use in the garden. I like the idea of reusing kitchen refuse and this is in line of that idea.

Speaking of which I encourage people to try their hands in making their own compost or for those who enjoy a challenge, try their hands at doing vermiculture. Any kitchen scrapings, old newspapers, paper towels, etc. can be converted into excellent compost.

Ianna

Ianna,

Thanks for explaining. Does coffee have to be composted first? The previous owners did leave a compost bin behind but I didn't get a chance to use it last year due to renovations.

Thanks,
Lakshmi

No need to compost it because it will rot away eventually. Just work it in your soil.

Ianna