Way to go! You handled that very diplomatically and benefited from doing so. Good on you!! ;)

Dave

Les--Next time you go in, you may be able to make him even happier if you let him know that he can leave the filters in because they'll also decompose. I made sure the Starbucks I go to all know that.

If I get grounds from the percolators, there are filters. If they're from the espresso machines, there aren't any filters.

If I'm using them in the compost, they go directly into the bin. If I'm using them on the lawn, the grounds go on the lawn and the filters go in the compost. Since the filters are paper, they're considered a carbon source (or a brown), so if I'm getting a lot of them while using grounds on my lawn, I try to reserve a few bags of grounds for the compost.

Thanks Dave and bp. Yes I did ask him about filters and encouraged him to leave them in.

I will tell you that in my short experience in doing this (about 1 week), I sometimes go in and find a quite different experience speaking with someone behind the counter whom I am not sure is being quite honest with me about if they have any grounds for gardeners.

Asking them does seem to help educate some of their employees. I hear them sometimes asking another employee behind the counter "What is that about?".

Well anyway, Here's to good ground collecting. I wish I didn't feel like a begger sometimes. LOL

Les

"I wish I didn't feel like a begger sometimes."

Then remind yourself of the favor you're doing them. They have to pay to have trash hauled away. They generally pay by weight and/or volume. By far, the biggest part of their trash is UCG, both by weight and volume. By giving away the grounds, they're significantly reducing their trash bill. So you're saving them money.

You're also saving the workers a trip outside lugging a heavy bag of grounds.

I think it's great, Les. I understand what you mean about feeling like a begger, but I agree with bpgreen there. You're doing them the favor and helping our environment, too, by recycling them.

~Angela

Thanks for the support guys (and gals).

Today I used all the coffee grounds on my landscaping plus a few flings at some shade trees I'm trying to get to grow faster. Then watered it in a bit.

Getting kind of a caffeine buz just by going outside. LOL.

You know the sad part is to think that just about every gas station and office and many homes brew coffee everyday and the grounds end up in the landfill. Almost a tragedy in my eyes.

Once again, thanks for the support. You guys are the greatest.

Les

I hate to be a party pooper, but after taking UCGs from Starbucks for a while I developed a concern: Aren't the grounds thrown into the trash bags when they're still hot? Plastic, when it comes into contact with hot things, gives off a toxic compound. I don't remember what it is at the moment -- dioxin maybe? Anyway, most people probably wouldn't worry about it, but if you're organic gardening it's something to consider.

Eggandart: Yeah, your probably right. As I read your post I sip on a cup of coffee that was brewed with my Bun coffee maker. The filter basket is plastic. Hot water runs through it and, well, you get the idea.

Never tried running them though a garbage bag though!
Maybe it's the dioxin that taste's good and not the beans. Never thought of that.

I also have some plastic plates that I eat hot supper off of, the plastic car interior which I touch on a hot day absorbing through the pores of my skin...etc., etc., etc.

No disrespect but I think if I were to wory about this issue with the coffee grounds, it will have to wait it's turn.

Les

"Aren't the grounds thrown into the trash bags when they're still hot?"

Not usually, at least not in my experience. They're usually at most slightly warm when I see them go in.

I also think that the toxic compounds are only an issue in a few types of plastic. IIRC, they're released as gas, so if anybody would need to be concerned, it would be the Starbucks employees.

I have various experience in Starbucks too. From, here, take as much as you want, to looks like I am crazy. I hate that feeling of not knowing the reaction as well. So I just go by one Starbucks that rebags all their UCG and puts them in a basket with labels: Grounds for your Garden. The little label even has instructions about why it can be helpful for your garden and/or compost. I grab a few whenever I'm in there. Never offered a free drink though! That's too cool.

My funniest experience was once I asked at a Starbucks and they gave me this HUGE garbage bag of UCG, must have been 30 or 40 pounds and the other patrons were looking at me weird so I told them that it was good for the garden. It's cool when someone with purple hair gives YOU weird looks. ;) My husband was a bit embarressed though, oh well.

On the plastic thing, from what I've read there are different levels of "badness" of plastics which you can sometimes tell based on their number in the little recycling symbol on them. If I remember right I'm avoiding 3, 6, and 7 for the BPAs, but not strictly if you can tell I can't even remember. But I'm not really worried about it being in the grinds going into the compost. ;)

First let me say there is NO DIOXIN in consumer plastic products. That is a myth that circulates and if you want to read more about it go to www.snopes.com. You will find more in a carton of milk due to its bioaccumulating properties than you will find in the carton itself.

I would not worry about plasticizers in the compost. They do not necessarily come out as gases. In fact it's recommended that you don't microwave food in plastic, esp. soft plastics (margarine tubs, etc.) because plasticizers can leach into your food. Usually softness and pliability are derived from plasticizers. Bisphenol A is one, there are phthalates also. The harder plastics like Tupperware are better, but still best avoided for heating foods.

The tiny amount - if any - leached out of Starbucks bags, in relation to the amount of grounds, then run through the microbially active compost/soil system...well it's just not enough to be concerned about. My 2 cents.