Green GRITS

Most Americans drink 1 -2 cups of coffee a day, according to recent studies. However, most people also throw the left over coffee grounds in the trash after having their delicious cup of Joe. Did you know you could be reusing what you are wasting?

Coffee grounds can be reused in the following ways:

1. Organic Cat/pest repellant — Used coffee grounds are great for repelling rodents, cats, ants, slugs, and snails from outdoor plants.  If you have children or pets, this is a great non-toxic alternative to pesticides.
2. Garden fertilizer - Coffee grounds make a great fertilizer in garden soil. Sprinkle them in the soil of plants that love acidic soils - especially rosebushes, rhododendrons, camellias, evergreens, carrots, and radishes. 
3. Mild abrasive cleaner — Coffee grounds are extremely abrasive and acidic, giving them the edge when it comes to stubborn grease and stains on pots and pans. Simply mix them with a little bit of water, and then scrub with a firm brush. Make sure that the dirty items are stain-resistant. 
4. Deodorizer — Whether you love or hate the smell of coffee, that smell is not an issue when it comes to using coffee grounds as a deodorizer. Coffee grounds attract and trap unwanted odors, without imparting that unmistakable coffee scent. After you have dried them, preferably on a cookie sheet or foil, place your coffee grounds in an old pair of pantyhose. Tie the hose off, and then simply place them in any closet or area that needs freshening up. Results should last for a few weeks or even an entire month. You can apply the same method to your freezer. Why spend money on baking soda when your old coffee grounds do the same job? After drying them as you did above, place the grounds in an old used margarine tub or something similar. Place the lid on, but poke holes in the top to allow the flow of oxygen. Without this oxygen, the coffee grounds will not be able to suck up odors effectively.
5. Cooking — For cooking, don’t reach for those used coffee grounds. Instead, opt for your leftover coffee or fresh grounds. Rather than throwing away the leftover coffee in the bottom of the pot, use it as a meat tenderizer; soak your steak in it to make the meat more tender and add a great new flavor at the same time! You can also add fresh grounds to chocolate cakes and brownies for a richer and unique flavor. Technically you could add used grounds, but fresh grounds give the desserts a stronger, fresher taste.

6. Hand soap: Rub grounds on your hands to get rid of stubborn odors like onion and garlic.

7. Hair rinse: After washing your hair, rub in coffee grounds for shine, softness, and even a bit of color for those of you who are dark-haired; remember coffee grounds act as a dye, so if you have light hair, unless you want highlights, this one isn’t for you.

8. Face mask: An egg white mixed with 1/4 cup grounds makes a great exfoliating face mask.

Many of us are trying to take more responsibility with our environment. One way to do this is to ask ourselves what changes we can make around our home. Many of the things we throw in our trash can each day can be put to other uses - coffee grounds are no exception!  After you make coffee tomorrow morning, ask yourself if there is something else you might do with those grounds instead of tossing them in the trash.  Even if you don’t drink coffee, you can ask your local coffee shops and other places that serve coffee for their grounds, and start reusing them.  Everyone can make a difference!

Spring is in the air and the birds are chirping!  I always love this time of year… the flowers bloom, babies are born, the temperature rises, and the days get longer.  It also brings allergies and shedding to my household!  My cat begins to shed her beautiful fluff and it gets ALL OVER my house.  I recently started taking her outside to brush her so I could get some fresh air at the same time.  As the clumps of fur floated into the wind, I noticed birds swooping down into my yard to pick up the soft undercoat I had just discarded.  I used to just throw this mass of fur into the garbage, but I found that it can be “recycled” by the birds and used for nest building.  This doesn’t exactly save you money, but studies show that brushing your pets regularly will reduce the dander in your home - thus helping alleviate allergies!  

Cutting down on allergens in your home is literally for the birds!!  If you have indoor pets, discard their fur outside so that birds and other critters can reuse it!  

When I tell people I haven’t bought soap in 5 years I get some really funny looks.  Once you hear why, maybe you’ll stop buying soap too!  

I travel a good bit for work and pleasure, so I bring home the soaps and sample sized gels and lotions that magically appear in my room each day.  I bring my own shampoo & conditioner and I open and use one bar of the hotel soap the entire stay.  That way I bring home 3-7 bars of soap each week (depending on how many the maid leaves in the room).  It might sound like I am a hoarder, but I don’t end up keeping all that I bring home.  I do keep the bars of soap, but I donate the lotions, shampoos, conditioners, and mouthwash to the local homeless shelter.  The shelter loves the individual sized containers because they are easy to distribute to those in need.  You’ve “paid for” the toiletries in the cost of the hotel stay… why not give them to people that will use them? 

Just for fun, I totaled up how much I spent on bar soap per year.  It came out to about $30 worth - but that was just for me.  I grew up in a household with 6 people (5 of them women), so we went through soap like it was water.  Not having to buy soap would’ve saved my family approximately $285 per year!  I can understand that people may not travel as much as I do, so the opportunity to bring home “free” toiletries may be few and far between.  My point is that when and if you do, you could make a difference in your household budget.  I feel like I have become my mother when I say this, but ”every little bit counts!”  It doesn’t cost you anything to bring the hotel toiletries home with you, so save yourself some money and help others in need at the same time!

How much time do you spend matching up socks after doing a load of laundry?  Ever end up with a few less socks than when you started?  One of the most useful things I’ve found to combat the “sock gremlin” is the sock ring… It is a small plastic ring with teeth that comes in a variety of colors.  You push a pair of socks through the ring before throwing it in the hamper and it keeps your socks together through the entire laundry process.  Once the load is dry, the socks are clean and already paired!  No more lost socks and no more wasted time pairing them up. 

My mother recognized this small plastic contraption could save her time, money, and her sanity.  My 3 sisters and I would constantly fight over whose socks were whose on laundry day.  My grandmother gave us our first sock rings when I was 12.  The pack came with four differet colors… red, yellow, white, and blue.  We all were assigned a color and if we didn’t use our designated color, the socks in the wash were a free-for-all.  Mom refused to resolve the conflict just to teach us a lesson.  The threat of my sisters stealing my socks motivated me to use my blue sock rings every time. 

Even though I now live alone and I do my own laundry, I still use my sock rings.  They keep my socks together in my drawer, they keep the “sock gremlin” in my dryer at bay (I have never lost a sock when using my sock rings), and they save me time when I am folding clothes.  I literally pull my socks out of the dryer and throw them in the drawer!  It is effortless and the 2 seconds it takes to push my socks through the ring before throwing them in the hamper are more than made up for.  If you are a busy GRIT like me, any time saved on mundane tasks is priceless!

If you would like to purchase sock rings, you can find them at http://www.sock-locks.com/index.htm.  Tell them Green-GRITS sent you!