GREEN TIPS: Top 10 eco-friendly uses for coffee
Having thought I'd 'got the set' when it came to kitchen cupboard ingredients with hidden uses, I was amazed at the number of suggestions I received for other handy and green ways to tackle household chores using safe substances. And thanks to Cafedirect, I've now discovered a whole load of uses for coffee I never knew about, from you pest control to beauty needs.
Read on to find out about coffee's hidden uses!
1. Eco beauty - use coffee grounds as a natural exfoliant on the skin. Pat on skin, massage over skin and then rinse.
2. Eco haircare - coffee makes a great hair rinse! If you have dark hair, use leftover coffee as a final hair rinse to add super shine.
3. Outdoor gardening - used coffee grounds are said to repel snails and slugs as well as adding nutrients to the soil. Old coffee grounds are excellent to add to your composting pile. Not only do they increase the acidity of your soil, but they also act as a natural fertiliser.
4. Indoor gardening - add some old grounds to your houseplants. Most of them will love this boost of acidity.
5. Keep the local moggies at bay - keep cats from using your garden as a litter tray by spreading used coffee grounds and orange peels throughout your flower beds.
6. Deoderise the eco-friendly way - place a bowl of used coffee grounds in the freezer to remove unwanted odours.
7. Neutralise nasty niffs - rub coffee grounds on your hands to get rid of smells from chopping or cutting up pungent foods.
8. Now you see it...now you don't - remove small scratches on furniture with wet coffee grounds.
9. Fairtrade funghi - grow mushrooms on old coffee grounds.
10. Pest control the natural way - ants apparently hate coffee and won't cross a line of coffee grounds
Fantastic series of eco tips; trouble is I cannot stand the smell of coffee
Posted by: Seb Crump | August 21, 2008 10:50 PM