Before you toss those coffee grounds after your morning brew, repurpose them with one of these ideas!

Compost:

Along with your other green compost materials like food scraps and grass, coffee grounds can be added to the pile too. Balance it with brown materials, e.g., twigs, dry leaves, and newspapers at a 4:1 ratio and feel good about doing your part to help the environment.

Bake:

If you’re baking a chocolate-filled dessert today, adding a tablespoon or so of fresh coffee grounds will not only enhance the taste of chocolate but also give the dessert an overall bolder flavor.

Fertilize:

Yes, coffee grounds can be used as fertilizer in your garden, and since they have a fairly neutral pH level, you don’t have to worry too much about how their acidity will affect your plants. However, if you use fresh coffee grounds, the acidity levels are slightly higher, and plants like azaleas and blueberries will soak it up.

Exfoliate:

Tired of overspending on exfoliators? Make your own using a ¼ cup of coffee grounds and a couple tablespoons of olive or coconut oil. Apply as you normally would in your shower routine for smooth and moisturized skin.

Deodorize:

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that you can use coffee grounds to neutralize odors throughout the home—ever notice how perfume counters have dishes of coffee beans on them? Any place that tends to get especially smelly, like the refrigerator, is just the place for a dish of grounds. Just be sure to keep an eye on them for mold if they’re damp or new. Use them when running the garbage disposal as well to freshen it up, but only on occasion.

Clean:

If you have an especially dirty pot or pan, a couple teaspoons of coffee grounds will do wonders to help lift stubborn grease and grime. This is even more useful when you don’t have a steel wool pad on hand. Just be sure to rinse thoroughly.