*UPDATE*

I've been jumping through the hoops to get the program up and running and finally hit the jackpot yesterday. My co-worker and I met with the managers of Starbucks on campus. They have 4 Starbuck locations and 3 other coffee spots that serve Starbucks coffee. They will be giving us coffee daily and estimate 6-8 bags a day. They will even transport it to a central location for us so we do not have to bother going to each location and collecting, saves us time.

So early estimates are a bag will weigh 30-40 pounds once dry. On the low end, that will be about 900 pounds a week. We don't want to stop here though. Our goal is to have 15 locations, not just Starbucks, providing us with coffee grounds.

All in all, this is a pretty good door opener into the project. Next step will be how to dry it out and spread it efficiently, which we have some ideas that we will be testing very soon. Also fighting off concerns about it burning the grass and doubt from others.





*Original Post*

Hello. I know used coffee grounds are not the most potent feed out there, but let me explain the situation first. I work for a university's grounds department. With budget cuts, it has put us in a bind. So my idea I've been brainstorming with Dchall_San_Antonio is to collect used coffee grounds, for at least some sort of fertilizer.

The campus has 5 Starbucks located on it, and not to mention the surrounding area coffee places. With student enrollment at around 60k, employees, and surrounding business employees...I'd imagine that's a lot of coffee grounds. I have asked Starbucks what they do as of now with the coffee grounds and they just throw them out, not being used at all. So here's my questions, most the lawn areas are bermuda with some fescue in shade areas:

1. Can the grounds be used directly on the lawns? I've read yes they can, then in other places no they can't because of the acidity. I've personally used them on my lawn area with no problem, but not in the amount I foresee here.

2. It's hot in the Phoenix area, will that be an issue with the grounds? Should they be kept moist?

3. The mold/fungus that grows on coffee grounds, is it a health issue?

4. I would need to store the grounds till they get used. What would be the best way to store them? I was thinking just put them in a pile outside in one of our yards.

I think that's all the questions I have for now. I appreciate any help and information on this what so ever. I know some about organic gardening, but no where near what others know here. Thanks in advance.


Vicente

1. Yes, they can be used directly on the lawn. It might be difficult to spread a large quantity. I always did it by hand and that would not be practical for you. You might need to dry them and maybe mix them with something so they'll spread readily.

2. The heat should not be a problem, although they seem to be a bit more pungent in the heat.

3. The mold shouldn't be a health issue. It can actually provide some benefits to the lawn.

4. If you pile them without drying them, they will likely start to decompose and they may smell as they do. However, in Phoenix, they should dry out in a hurry, so I'd probably use a fairly large area to give them a chance to dry before adding the next layer (presumably the next day).

Thanks. Still working out the logistics of things. I need to speak with Starbucks to find out quantities. I'm hoping for a lot.

The amount you can get from a local Starbucks in a day can vary widely depending on if anyone else in your neighborhood has figured out how to use UCGs. I have two locations on my way home from work that I hit for a week for my yard. One would only ever have a 5lb bag (other individuals came by during the day for em) and the other would hand me two or three 10-15lbs bags... One week and I had enough for the whole yard!

Fun fact... the UCGs dont smell nearly as good as you'd think if you store em in your garage for a week or two prior to use.

Might have an upper hand on the Starbucks located on campus. Since they are on university property and renting out space for their business, I'm hoping we can get first dibs on the UCG.

Can the grounds be used directly on the lawns? I've read yes they can, then in other places no they can't because of the acidity.

Old wife's tale, repeated all the time. They are not acidic, or only ever-so-slightly acidic after brewing.

crewdawg wrote:Fun fact... the UCGs dont smell nearly as good as you'd think if you store em in your garage for a week or two prior to use.

That's the truth. I think the biggest trouble you will have is getting the grounds dry enough to go through a spreader.

I've wonder how to spread on a mass scale and you're right, might be difficult using a spreader.

Not sure... I started to spread them out on a tarp in the sun to let them dry, but got impatient and just threw em in a bucket and spread em with a cup and a shaking hand. It worked reasonably well on my lawn, but in a situation like yours...

Not exactly on topic, but I think you need a raise. It is refreshing to come across someone who still has a work ethic and pride in their job these days. Lately I would expect to hear "Oh well, no money for fertilizer- too bad, I guess I have less work to do know." Keep up the good work and document all this for your performance review!
Dave

I'll be sure to forward your message to my bosses.

I'll be taking pictures of the test area once I get the collection going. With the coffee grounds, I'll be shooting for at least 40lbs per 1000 square feet if possible. I still need to start getting a contact with the Starbucks on campus to figure out the collection process and how much they approximately throw out.

We do have a top dresser that will drop both wet and dry material so that will be my suggestion to cover huge areas. The smaller areas can be done by hand and a rake. Its a huge campus and depending on how many coffee grounds there are, the high priority areas will get most of the fertilizer over little patches here and there. That's the plan thus far.

As I understand it, this video shows the type of equipment Vince has available to apply - very cool machine!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=065I_CZ488k

He did not mention that he has 45 acres to cover, so he needs a good machine. To cover 45 acres with 40 pounds per 1,000 will require 78,408 pounds for one complete application. That is dry pounds, not wet. I figure drying the coffee in Phoenix will be relatively easy once he gets a place and system worked out. By my rough calculation that is a little over 100 cubic yards of coffee grounds. Fortunately they will not have to store 100 cubic yards. They will be accumulating, drying, storing, and applying all at the same time. But they will need some space to do the drying and storage. Again, my rough guess is that 1 cubic yard will cover 17,500 square feet. As a first guess toward this process, I would think that accumulating enough for 2 acres would be good. So accumulate 10 cubic yards and apply 5 to cover two acres. When the accumulation reaches 10 cubic yards again, apply half to another 2 acres. That way you only need enough space to dry and store 10 cubic yards of coffee. That could be done in as little as 100 square feet when piled up a little over 2 feet high.

*UPDATE*

So I'm slowly going through the ranks that are needed to collect these coffee grounds. I got the approval from my bosses to go forth with it after showing them the benefits, then I started to ask around to see how many coffee grounds are bought for the campus.

I was amazed by the number that are bought in a week, and this number is two years old and other stores have been added since. They go through 2500 pounds of coffee in a week. That is 130,000 pounds in a year, but I know that is an over estimate. It still amazing though!

Next process is to talk to the health inspector. Being around so many students/faculty, can't do anything with food without talking to them first. See how that goes.

Vince

You guys might be able to pull in some Grad students/professors from either the Turfgrass program, or the Environmental Engineering programs to actually do some sort of project on this....

You might actually be able to secure some grants to do the project and buy the equipment....

Thanks

If I did my math correctly, you'll get about enough N to supply 1 lb of N to 250,000 sq ft each month.

Since you've got Bermuda, this probably won't be as much N as it would like, but it could make a good dent in the requirements. I think it would difficult to give Bermuda enough N with coffee grounds alone.

Still in the process here, but I'm definitely getting people involved to help out. If it is successful in a trial run, then I will shoot for grants and what not.

I know its not enough to cover the entire area, but its a good chunk of free fertilizer. And when it comes to free at that quantity, have to jump on it.

andy10917 wrote:

Can the grounds be used directly on the lawns? I've read yes they can, then in other places no they can't because of the acidity.

Old wife's tale, repeated all the time. They are not acidic, or only ever-so-slightly acidic after brewing.

Andy, do I need to search the forums for "old wife's tales" on here to see all the myths you dispel?

I was wondering about the acidity issue, but if this is true, then I guess it is negligible except in copious amounts.

There are so many of them that it isn't funny.

Used Coffee Grounds are barely acidic. The same holds true of pine needles and oak leaves.

Vince is off getting married this week so be sure to congratulate him when he returns.

I can give you a partial update, though. He got approval from the health people to spread the coffee grounds. As soon as that happened, the health people jumped in asking for some coffee grounds to keep cats away from the buildings. There were a few hitches trying to find a test area with a good control plot. Vince found one in a parking lot border. The parking lot is symmetric and has two borders of about 1/4 acre each separated by the entry to the lot. You couldn't ask for two more identical plots. He and his partner are actively spreading the coffee. They have drive-around rotary type spreader which they modified so the coffee grounds will flow through better. I'm trying to remember but I think they have applied more than 1,000 pounds. Coffee is flowing in fast and they only have the one small plot. They apply 160 pounds at a time and have about 1,200 in a pile waiting to be applied. Now that it's accumulating faster than he can apply it, I've suggested he let the pest control people try it on the cats (waste of time in my opinion, but good for morale among the troops).

There have been a few kinks in the project - out of Vince's control. A few weeks ago his test plot and control were sliced and aerated. At least both were done but they were done at different times. They were sliced first and then aerated. Now it looks ugly with plugs everywhere, so he's a little depressed about the outsiders messing with his test. He did get approval, based on the almost immediate improvement of his test plot, to apply coffee to the acre of grass in front of the university president's office. That has not started yet.

After he returns to life I'll bug him to post some pictures of his experiment.

Cats? My old cat, Sage, used to rub up against Mom's coffeemaker and sniff at the grounds. He was a little odd, though...