Recycling coffee grounds on UNR campus

[Trish Tlapak]

As I was stopping by the coffee stand just outside of Getchell library today, I was wondering what happens to all of the coffee grounds that are used in the making of coffee on campus.

There seems to be a lot of coffee being made on campus...and coffee grounds are great for compost and great for gardens.
http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/compost.asp
http://gardening.wsu.edu/stewardship/compost/coffee.htm

According to the following link:
"Diverting coffee grounds from the waste stream isn’t just beneficial for gardeners. Coffee grounds that wind up in the landfill contribute to the production of methane, a greenhouse gas that traps more heat than carbon dioxide" ...So keeping coffee grounds out of landfills is a good thing for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/dt.cms.support.viewStory...

Does anyone know if anything similar is already being done on campus? Ideas about how to divert coffee grounds from the landfill?

[Philippe]

Hi Trish, I am Philippe, I currently live in Japan and read your comment on this website.

The question you asked yourself is a valid one I believe, and I myself had been wondering the same thing only in another part of the world and place.

Here in Japan recycling is a major part of life and we could say, culture.
However, here we also tend to be wasteful in general when it comes to creating waste.
This is kind of ironic i guess, that even though Japan boasts to be a leader in the world as far as recycling is concerned, we tend to also be leaders in creating the original products that so readily pollute our environments.

Anyway, going back to "coffee'' , I love coffee, it's kind of a passion for me to drink a nice cup of expresso coffee, especially in the morning when I get up.
I also realize that the best cup coffee a person can make, is probably the one you make yourself at home, just the way you like it.
However for some time now I had been wondering each day about what i should do with my coffee waste after i wash my pot.
So recently I have been keeping the waste on a tray at home and dried it all up.
What i have found is that the product seems very interesting, partly because it feels like soil but also it looks like soil.
So the big question is what to do with it?
I know what to do with it, however the biggest question is would people be interested in buying recycled coffee as an alternative to fertilisers or other soil products on the market today.?
My focus is commercialization because i believe that by doing that, a project can become more sustainable in the long run and also creates a better awareness in peoples minds about the seriousness & true potential of recycling
certain products.
I am interested in anyone who would give me some of their thoughts and opinions or experience in this field.
My e-mail adress is [e-mail]

Thank you

[Fidel]

Hi Trish,
I am Fidel and I live in Canada.
Your discovery is very interesting and I like to know if you have already been contacted for commecrcialization. Also is this the University discovery or your own?
I just have direct contact in suplying coffee products as I am involved in biodiesel project.
Let me know if you ahve interest in developing this idea into a project.

email: [e-mail]

Thank you