sorry, I meant grounds, not grinds. lol

This is a trick question, right? If I could only pick one of those, I'd pick the compost, because the compost goes on the lawn and garden.

If you're getting as much as it sounds like, why not do them all? Just make sure you don't spread them too thick because they can repel water then.

What I generally do is use the silver bags on the lawn because they're easy to spread that way. I just walk backward and swing the bag back and forth. The grounds in garbage bags go into the compost. When it's hot, my wife doesn't like the smell if I spread them on the lawn, so they all go in the compost then.

Mine goes in the compost and on the lawn. At this time of year I spread a lot of it mixed with ashes from our wood stove (our soil is highly acidic) on the lawn just to get things going. The worms will come up at night and aerate the soil, and in the morning we get to watch the robins have a feast on any worm which hasn't gone back home. Robins poop on the lawn... Everyone is happy.

I bring home about 250+lbs every week. If I'm lazy and don't want to tend to the compost bins, I'll also spread more on the lawn, but since the gardens are mulched and fed with the compost, they never get any of the fresh stuff.

I had to stop gathering the UCGs for a couple of months due to back problems, but I'm back at it again and the folks at the bakery/gas station/coffee bar where I get them are more than happy to see me back. The employees there are in their late teens/early twenties and they sometimes drop by our home in the summer just to see what I'm doing with 'all that stuff'. Great bunch. Last week they started giving me boxes full of banana peels again too. YES!! Life is good! :O)

jrupjr, many of us were were raised by grandmothers who called them "grinds".

I use the grounds along with fresh cut grass as my started greeen to get the compost pile going. After it heats up I put the more problematic stuff like fruit and veggie material and fish parts in the center.

I'm glad you are having good luck in collecting grounds. I found Starbucks 'green' policy a bit more PR than truely green. I collected a bag most times when going into the store. One time they had no bag ready, and I asked if I could check out their dumpster. I found FOUR bags of grounds; the regular type with filters as opposed to the espresso clumps which they gave away.

Needless to say, I never when back inside, but directly to the dumpster. I use a Rubbermaid bin and a implement with fingers to pull the bag out.

Same here jrupjr.
I finally went in two days ago and to my surprise they have a bin by the front door with a sign on it saying "grounds for your garden." Cool. I agree wtih robertzone6 in that the amount of grounds they produce is more than what is in the bin up front. I do think that if you become a regular, then they will do a better job of setting them aside for you. It would seem to be a waste of time to put them up front only to have to turn around and throw out the unclaimed grounds at the end of the night.
I won't make a trip just for grounds, as the gasoline used to get there is worth more than the gounds claimed. If I am already passing by, then I now know how easy it is to claim free garden goodies.

I've been to some, particularly in downtown areas, where they started saving the grounds, but quit when nobody took them. They'd save them if people called in advance, but otherwise they wouldn't.

It seems to be hit or miss whether they include the grounds from the drip coffee. Some employees seem to think the filters need to be separated, and don't like to do that. One guy was dumping a basket and asked if I wanted the filter removed, but made a point to tell me that the filters would compost also. I'll bet that at the place where they were tossing the drip grounds, if you told them the drip grounds and filters were good for gardens, they'd probably start bagging them, as well.

As far as the PR vs truly green goes, I'm a little more cynical, partly because of where I first learned about the program. I think that Starbucks really wants to be seen as a green company, but I think a lot of that is because of the PR value of it.

There's actually another reason they give the grounds away, and it's practical and financial. Think about the waste that a Starbucks generates. What percentage of that waste do you suppose is coffee grounds? Think about it in terms of volume (probably a big share) and weight (a bigger share). When you consider that they can either pay to have the grounds hauled off or give them away and get some free goodwill, which do you think sounds better to them?

Put them on top of the soil in outdoor plants (havenÂt tried inside) thick enough to cause the crusting that repels water. They will suppress weed seed germination.

def in the compost pile. I just got a pile of poop delivered, so getting them daily needs to become habit for me. I get them 'occasionally' but not all the time.

As for the PR, my SB decided that "nobody gardens in the winter" so they wouldn't even give me the un-pretty-bagged ones last fall. So I just said "whatever" and took them from here at work over the winter.

I need to go get them this morning again...need to make the bank run soon. That'll work.

Sometimes getting the grinds is a training issue. I stop at my local Starbucks three times a week so now they expect me. I get a 5 gal bucket each time. I have tried getting the filtered coffee too, but, that training has not taken yet. Besides, 15 gal a week of grinds, plus what I grab from work, home, and the local Jamba Juice keeps me busy enough.

The grounds I usually run thru the composter but some go straight on to the grass or in the garden. I like the bags for the lawn cause it is so easy.

I've been raising oak trees on my farm in northern Maine. Where my farm is oak trees are very uncommon so I really work at them and they all live with a good mulching of coffee grounds which works a treat. They double in size about every year.
I've got a mini rose in the house that gets regular coffee treatments too, its just amazing.

I just found out why many Starbucks located in cities don't participate in the grounds giveaway. Certain unscrupulous types take the metal bags, empty out the grounds, and use the bags to smuggle shoplifted merchandise out past store security devices. Apparently the Circuit City here in downtown San Francisco has lost a bunch of stuff this way.

And just to be on-topic: my grounds get distributed among my outdoor compost, my ferns, and my worm bin. I do not have a lawn; hopefully I never shall.

Could be- could also be that people just don't have yards.