Very interesting Sunni. I am getting into growing vegetables (having grown tomatoes, peppers, eggplants in the past), so your feedback is appreciated. If I need to start anything inside, I'll probably try this method first. For some reason, I did not have any germination from eggplant seeds even after more than two weeks. I did one set of seeds with paper towel and the roots did stick. Have not had that issue with coffee-filters, especially moist ones. Californian, I have noticed when I could not get to transplanting the sprout in time, the seed-leaves separated from the seed heads within the filter. I also tend to bury the sprouts almost completely with just the seeds head showing, when I transplant them and the seed heads separate nicely. I just leave the seed coat alone. So you should plant as soon as the seed has sprouted. If you go to the post linked with the first post, in the 3 or 4 the response, the poster shows images of the process. The last image would give you a good idea of when you can transplant.

I'm in southern Wisconsin and have been composting consistently for 5 years. Here's a different take on your situation: I'm assuming you have a garden? If so, consider dumping your coffee grounds, or at least some portion of them, directly into your garden. If you're concerned about putting too much into your garden, just start with a smaller amount to reassure yourself that it'll work ok. All of my coffee grounds go in the garden or my dry leaf pile (when I have one), except when I need an extra dose of nitrogen in the compost pile. Coffee grounds are nice in their versatility - they're fine to sit on the surface of the soil, unlike most other compostables. Best of luck! PS Since I'm also in Wisconsin and you say you're newer to composting, I feel I should mention up front in case you don't know - you *can* compost through winter. Or, at least continue to add to your pile. It'll freeze at some point but will thaw and get back to business in the spring. :)

Kitchen towels are only in white and therefore you don't have to worry about anything matching or needing to bleach anything or using the "wrong" towel for anything. They're all the same. I buy cheap 100% cotton terry Doctor Joe automobile polishing towels and use them in the kitchen and garage. Once they get a bit stained from kitchen use, they become garage towels. If you buy in bulk cheaply and have plenty on hand, you won't be searching for one when you need it. Group some by the sink, and others by the prep area and yet others in the laundry area. Yes, I use them for cleaning up cat puke. The yuck goes down the toilet and the towel goes in the laundry with bleach. About 2 dozen is a good starting number for the average household. If you have a large household, then maybe double that. I use an old bucket that cat litter came in as the "hamper" in the pantry. If I'm doing a project that requires a lot of them and they're too many to just drape over the side and air out behind closed doors, I usually put them on a baking sheet and place them in the oven as it's cooling down. Use that "lost heat" for something! Do you want to talk about bottled water? We switched to a filter pitcher several years ago and bought a case of bottled water annually and just refilled the bottles as we drank the original water. But they were difficult to sanitize properly and after a recent bout with a nasty GI bug that the other half blamed on a water bottle, I received a dozen plain stainless steel water bottles as a holiday present. So far, they've been a lot easier to clean and fill and I'm really glad we switched.

FYI: Last year I germinated tomato seeds in coffee filters. I was told I'd get a better germination rate doing it this way than using seed starting mix. Well 1st off even though they were 2014 seeds not all germinated which surprised me ( I was a newbie last year) 2nd it took me close to 3 hours to then transplant them into my seed starting mix and I only transplanted about 20 seedlings. Why so long? Well I didn't want to damage the extremely delicate seedlings. Wow yes a lot of time and yes quite a lot of stress. I did learn a lot but this year the seeds are going right into the starting mix.