The Starbucks I tried to get UCGs from has been very unreliable and inconsistent. I tried to tell them I would be there everyday at a certain time and not once did they have grounds for me. Their excuses ranged from we forgot to someone else picked them up to we don't do that.

So I quite going there and instead I put an ice cream pail next to the coffee pot on the two floors here at work and put a note on them. Now I come home with about 1-2 gallons of UCGs and bannana peels, apple cores, orange peels, and a few other things a day. It's actually worked out great.

Over a year ago, I started to visit a Starbucks on my way home from work. At first I would stop and get the foil bags they had filled, but soon they became accustomed to me being there every day, including Saturday and Sundays. We soon bypassed the foil bag step and they now keep a bucket (with my name on it) lined with a plastic bag.

I make an effort to learn their names, and always thank them. If someone else gets the coffee grounds before I do, I express pleasure that someone else is also taking advantage of the resource. But I make it a point to get there every day, and they are expecting to see me.

I have left tips now and then, and I sometimes buy an ice caramel mocha or a bag of beans for my brother when the manager is there so that he feels like the reward for the efforts are more than just karmic.

My main point is to be dogged about stopping in, be pleasant about asking, be thankful when they hand over grounds, and be gracious when there are none.

Good luck.

My SB puts a bucket by the door so you can just pop in and out. I wish I could get them to just put them in a big bag and let me pick them up once a day but other people are obviously picking them up at that site as well. Sometimes those people beat me to them. I average about 10 of those silver bags a week.

check out my earlier post on "no more starbucks ucg this year" you guys and gals are lucky to get them!

I read that thread dlplasti, sorry to hear about that in your neck of the woods. I was thinking of devising a way to reward them for their efforts. Maybe bringing them roses which are the reward of using the UCG that goes into the compost, which then goes into my soil for the roses. Then again I was thinking they might take that the wrong way though as in it was a way for me to make some kind of romantic gesture towards the cute barista, lol.

On a positive note the one of 3 Starbucks I went to today did have a clear bag and they were saving them (it's the 1 Starbucks that told me they always save UCG as one of the employees there has a bf that works at some garden center or nursery and uses them. At least that is a reliable place that will have a better chance of having more than the foil 5# bags. The other place closer to where I lived the same guy was there and he said he will save them for me so I am happy even if it is sporadic as it will definitely be an improvement to before when I wasn't getting these nice stashes of UCGs regularly.

Tomorrow I'm going to "town" and my errands will take me past 5 SB locations I think. I might score some tomorrow! I think that's the most I've been able to stop at in a day so far (without really going out of the way at least). Hopefully I've planned my timing ok. It would be a shame to have to drive past any of them, but I don't think DH would be too happy if I left him standing, waiting at the airport while I collect UCG's along the way. :-)

I have two stores a few blocks apart. It's a trip, but I try to do it at least once a week. The closer didn't do much. The one a few blocks further always has had grounds for me. Usually like 5 or 6 foil bags in the bucket by the door. I always say thanks. I am leaving for a school for 2 mo so I let them know. I'm the only one that's been picking them up. I'll be sure to let them know when I get back.

I did get quite a haul today. I made my 5 stops, plus one grocery store location that I know puts some in the can. I stop in there b/c it's in the same shopping center as the stand-alone. It's not much, but since I'm there anyway... A couple didn't have much, but one store had 5 foil bags, and another had 2 of the trash bags! I ended up with a large trashcan full :-)

Some of the stores are quite close to each other (3 of them on the same stretch of road, just a few miles apart), but passing 5 in a day is rare for me. Just happened that I had errands in 3 parts of town today...

There is a lot of info on other related threads.

Did you Search for 'grounds' or 'Starbucks'.

A "Search" using 'starbucks' found 174 hits, a number of them giving answers to your questions.

One thread you will want to read is titled 'no more grounds ...' as I recall. On it a number of composters related their Starbucks, and I gave my method of securing 50-200 pounds of grounds a week.

Robertz thanks. I remember reading the no more grounds thread and other threads. I am glad I finally found someone that actually gets some bags from the dumpsters. I will try that but I didn't know how much trash needs to be sifted through generally and if the trouble was worth it. Also is it legal to even go through their dumster area? Most places are fenced in. Last thing I would need is to get arrested for trespassing, breaking and entering, and stolen goods...

I know this post is about Starbucks. But i have gotten a great supply (3-4 of the 10 gallon garbage bags a week) of coffee grounds and filters from another chain called San Francisco Bread Company. It is closer to my home than Starbucks and they have been very cooperative.I think what helped was stopping by regularly and trying several different stores till I found one that wanted to help.

The individuals that work at a store seem to have more impact on the availability of used grounds as opposed to the policy of a store or chain. So get to know one or two people at the coffee store. Maybe even give them some tomatoes or garden produce during the productive months.

As to the whether it is a good idea to raid dumpsters, that depends mostly on the actions of the composter. If you have been granted access (once is all it took), and you don't make a mess, in most cases there will be no problem.

As I mentioned in other posts, I have a special tool to grab and remove bags without ripping them open. And I put a Rubbermaid container just outside the bin to catch anything that does leak out. A brush and pan are also kept in the car to clean up any loose grounds that escape. Don't forget to leave the gate in the position it was before you came.

Six years ago there were three grocery stores where one could collect fruit and veggie wastes. Now there is only one, but on a sunday I can still find eight 40 gallon trash bags of veggie waste to cart off. Don't expect anyone to tell you where their favorite collection sites are, they might rethink it and decide you should meet with an accident.

Robertz do you check the dumpsters during the day or in the dark of evening? I am not sure if I hqve the gumption to ask to go through their trash dumpster for used coffee grounds when so far I have received a large bag at one friendly Starbucks anytime I called in advance. If that girl quits then I guess I will have to try a dumpster strategy. Regarding leaving the dumpster in the way it was is important to me also. To be honest I would probably leave it cleaner than before I arrived by picking up trash around the dumster area that may not have ever made the dumpster. That's just the way I am.

On Dec 25 the dog and I made a point to walk a couple of extra miles out of the way to the Starbucks dumpster. I have always gone directly to the dumpster the last few years of collecting.

Anyway, that day there were three SB employees putting the trash in the dumpster. I asked if they had any grounds to give away. One employee said no. There was not much I could say, although I did resist my natural urge to say thanks. With the bag level above the dumpster, I estimated the contents at 1-4 bags of espresso grounds (what they give you inside the store), and two to eight bags of mixed grounds and trash. I didn't argue, just said OK and left.

So I guess this reinforces my natural instinct to go to the dumpster and avoid the store and employees. If you drink coffee and have a relationship with the employees, it might be different.

I work for Starbucks, and I am always pleased when someone asks for grounds. My store saves all our grounds in plastic bags which are taken to a composting center. We are more than happy to hand over as many bags as you like. Due to the rebrewing of coffee every half hour and the espresso bar, we end up with 3 or 4 large garbage bags every day. But if you are going to ask for it, please wait in the line and ask the till person, it's likely that anyone you just walk up to and ask will already be busy with a more pertinent task, we'll still get it for you, but we won't be happy about it. Asking the till person allows for the request to be passed to the least busy person or the floater.
Also, our organics bin now contains lots of banana peels because of some of our blended drinks.

Hey Moss - welcome to the forum! and thanks for giving us a little insight in Starbucks. I don't think that every Starbucks has your philosophy though. Maybe it helps that you've been a composter. I can only say that I wish we were closer to each other 'cause I'd come to your store ALL the time.

Val

Yeah Moss welcome to the forum and glad to see some Starbucks are ok about giving the large bags away. I did have a few problems the last week or so. I called in advance like I usually do to tell them I'd be by later in the day like after 6pm and they said ok. I go there and I tell them my name and that I was there to pick up the LARGE trash bag of coffee grounds and they look in the bin where they usually keep the foil wrapped bags and it was empty and she was like sorry... That's happened twice now...

Thanks! I'm happy to be here, I was surprised to find such an active forum with people as strange as me.

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experiences with trying to acquire grounds. It can be a little hit and miss sometimes, I've worked at 3 different stores; my first store was really bad about saving their grounds, we didn't have room for an organics bin, so everything just went it the trash. We saved our grounds in foil bags for a while, but very few people requested it. I'm sure if you left a message with the manager, or even spoke to them in person and told them that you would be stopping by every day or every second day they would be more than happy to fil up a foil bag or a garbage bag specifically for you. You could even leave your own pail and (at least at my store) we'll fill it up for you.
If you live in a downtown core, you'll probably have your choice of at least 4 Starbucks.

Hi! I just wanted to give you my formula. I bought 12 plastic (3 gal.) trash baskets and I lined them with (8 gal.)bags. I drop off two lined containers in the a.m. and bring back two clean lined baskets a couple of days later in the a.m. When I pick those up, UCG and filters go in together. I make sure the trash containers are washed, rinsed and lined. after I dump them. I carry a cement plastic tub in my truck and set the cans, liners and all in the tubs. (just in case of a spill). I worked from three different coffee shops.I tipped and bought mocha or coffee regularly. This worked fine till I went on vacation for a month. My DH picked up only from his favorite coffee house and put the bags in a big pile out in the yard. I had made arrangements with the other two shops that I would be on vacation. When I got home and had to pry frozen bags off the grass and spread them out I thought I would freeze my fingers off.
"Boy it was cold" After that I made arrangements to wait till spring to collect more grounds. I now have an acre of grass covered with grounds and 5 nice size lasagna beds waiting to plant. I now turn them about every month. Can't wait to get started again. In the mean time my Chiropractor saves me shredded mail and I am still collecting for the next bed. The Cement tub is always in the truck waiting in case I spy any thing I can use in my beds. I love collecting and gardening. This is very addicting!!!

Reviving this thread due to a few other concurrent threads.

Robertz6, I still never got an answer as to what that tool was that you use and how you get them out of the dumpster. Also with that fateful walk with your dog past that SB on Dec 25th 2008 and with 3 SB employees you encountered where they told you they had no UCGs, did you then go back later to raid their dumpster or would you get that same feeling that you were breaking the law?

The heavy bags of grounds are taken out with a rake-like thingee I found at the small local hardware store for 5 bucks. The knots that close the bag are about one inch in diameter, so I found an implement that has tines with spacing just less than that. It resembles a short-handled rake, with five or six metal tines at 90 degrees, but is only aprox. six inches wide as opposed to the old metal leaf rake which is about fourteen inches wide. The knot is the only place one can grab the bag with a tool and not break open the bag.

As to the political correctness, or legal nice-a-tees,
1) Ask the first time
2) be discreet
3) clean up any mess you make
4) if you go inside, get to know once or two of the employees
5) if they ask you to stop, find another store

If the stores would save most of the grounds I would be happy to go into the store and wait until an employee is free. But as I mentioned in other posts; I estimate that stores pitch 80-90% of the grounds they use.

Moss explained it perfectly. I work for Starbucks as well. Some stores keep them already bagged at the door as we do. Don't be embarrassed to ask, but definitely BE PATIENT! Any time someone gives me something for free I make sure I am patient an understanding of THEIR schedule as well. I collect many gardening supplies from businesses and things from Craig's list like used pots. Yesterday I had a guy DELIVER 40 bags of used potting soil, a bag of chicken manure, and an unopened bag of Warrior from Fox Farm. He was moving and wanted it gone. I waited for 3 days for it. In the last 6 months I have collected over 100 bags of used soil and amendments for my veggie garden this way. Patience and understanding works wonders. :)

Our SB wants a day's notice; they will hand over a boatload if you ask, and are willing to come back.
In a similar vein, I noticed rotten fruits and veggies being tossed in the garbage at our local ShopRite. I asked if I could take it (I said I'd bring in my own bucket) and they said they would be willing to sell it to me. And not all that cheaply, either; a per pound amount. The thing I love about my compost is that it is all free. I turned down their offer.

I don't have a SB convenient to me. My neighborhood isn't high class enough to ever be graced by SB. However, a couple of local ladies opened a nice little coffee shop here. They seemed delighted to save grounds for me. Said they were happy to see their "garbage" recycled and put to good use.

The place was tiny and didn't do that much business. But I did pick up 2 or 3 five gallon buckets of grounds weekly. I supplied a new, clean bucket each time I picked up. I occasionally bought a cup of coffee (though not those fancy, sissy latte things which I don't like). And all through the summer garden season I brought big beautiful flower bouquets for the shop. I kept them supplied with pretty flowers spring through fall.

Sadly, the shop went out of business a few months ago. Not enough people in this neighborhood are willing to pay $5 for a cup of coffee when they can get it down the street at McDonald's for a buck. (Proof that SB knows the meaning of demographics).

Karen

Hi
idaho gardener- I wish everyone was as kind as you! That is what I did when I picked up anything for free, even manure at a stable.
Anyone live in or near South Carolina or have a friend here?
We have two coffee Production plants here. One is a Starbucks, no ground coffee does not grow on trees. :-) Both plants have TONS of chaff to give away. I am getting mine from the other plant, they tell me Starbucks is paying to have it hauled to the landfill. They would rather give it away(it is cheaper for them), but no one is picking it up. I do not know anyone at the Starbucks plant, so this is hear say. I am getting 2-3 dump trucks full of chaff PER WEEK! So you could Load up (pun) if you live here.