Recently I wrote a feature that focused on the slight decline that sustainability saw in the coffee sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I learnt that there are many ways STILL in which those in the coffee industry are practising sustainability and are doing absolutely anything they can to ensure that it isn’t left in the rear-view mirror.
I spoke to Managing Director, Henry Miller on all the ways that Latitude Coffee practises sustainability, and noticed something that they, and many other businesses do to strengthen their green thumbs.
“Whether it be providing the ‘chaff’ or ‘husk’ that comes off the beans during the roasting process to a chicken farm as the litter, using the hessian bags in the same application or on-selling to ‘upcycle’ onto furniture or display walls, as we have done ourselves in the roasting facility,” said Mr Miller.
If hessian bags can be created, and chickens provided litter, what else can the remnants of coffee beans do?
It turns out, a lot!
- Fertiliser for gardens
Gardening Know How says that the benefits of using coffee grounds as a fertiliser is that it adds organic material to the soil, which improves drainage, water retention and aeration in the soil. The used coffee grounds will also help microorganisms beneficial to plant growth thrive as well as attract earth worms.
Fresh coffee grounds however are acidic. Used coffee grounds are neutral. If you rinse used coffee grounds, they will have a near neutral pH of 6.5 and will not affect the acid levels of the soil.
- Dye fabrics
Using coffee or tea grounds to dye fabrics, is a non-toxic an inexpensive method for altering colorations, to give a rustic look. Check out the method here!
- Scour pots and pans
The coarse texture of coffee grounds makes them ideal for scrubbing hard-to-clean kitchen utensils, says healthline. It can be used to remove caked-on food from pots and pans, as long as they are rinsed thoroughly afterwards.
- Exfoliate the skin
Due to the texture of coffee grounds, its coarseness can be used as an exfoliant, and removes dirt and dead cells from the skin. Many beauty products contain coffee grounds as an ingredient, or home remedies can be made.
- Neutralise odors
Ever notice in the perfume section at the shops that they sometimes have bowls of coffee grounds? That’s because coffee grounds contain nitrogen, which helps eliminate a foul-smelling sulfur gas from the air when combined with carbon, says healthline.
People fill up old socks or pantyhoses with coffee grounds, tie them up and place them in areas where there are bad smells, to neutralise it.
To read the other ways in which coffee can be practised sustainability, read the latest issue of Convenience World magazine, by clicking here.
