Earth Day is just around the corner, and we’ve got a new way you can cut down on how much you waste. There’s a fast-growing global trend anyone can try with coffee grounds, and this hack is awesome for the planet in more ways than one.
For years, devoted gardeners and the composting crowd have known that coffee grounds can be used in a truly genius way. Instead of tossing them in the trash or scraping them into the garbage disposal (somehow always a mess, no matter how long you’ve done it), coffee grounds can be added to the composting pile or combined with other organic ingredients to place over soil, enriching the soil with nutrients and also promoting the movement of oxygen.
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What’s even more amazing about this process is that, most recently, a study showed that applying coffee pulp to soil can actually speed up the rate at which plants grow. National Geographic reports on a recent study that took place in Costa Rica on land that had suffered from deforestation. Growers established two separate tree planting plots and used coffee pulp on one, which after two years, yielded impressive results compared to the non-coffee-treated plot. The trees that were raised on the plot with coffee pulp grew “four times taller on average, soil samples were more nutrient-rich, and invasive grasses had been eliminated.”
So, there’s one more way you can reduce what you throw in the garbage and help plants thrive. If you’re venturing into gardening, learn how to grow these 13 beginner-friendly herbs. And get the latest food and wellness news delivered to your inbox daily from the Eat This, Not That! newsletter.
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