We all have our vices, mine is COFFEE!!! Few things are as wonderful in the morning as a fresh brewed cup of coffee and a toasted english muffin with homemade raspberry jelly – yummmm! Or on a cold rainy afternoon, just the smell of it warms me. OK I love the stuff!
Most people are aware of the benefits of using spent coffee grounds on the soil. Applied directly on the garden as a fertilizer, they add organic material to the soil – which improves drainage, water retention and aeration. The used coffee grounds also attract earthworms and help the soil-borne microorganisms that are beneficial to plant growth.
In the compost pile, used coffee grounds provide a rich source of nitrogen. Coffee, the gift that keeps on giving!
So when my mother-in-law told me that adding fresh (not brewed) coffee grounds helps keep kitty litter smelling fresh for days or even a week longer than without, I balked… “Wait! What?” Waste this elixir of life on cat litter?
Necessity dictates… I didn’t have any fresh litter to add to the boxes after scooping one day. And what was in the boxes smelled… a bit pungent! I couldn’t get to the store until the next day, so I bit the bullet and gave one up for the team. After scooping out the solids I added about a pot’s worth of dry coffee grounds and gave the box a little stir. Well, color me flabbergasted! The effect was immediate. No offensive odor at all!
I did get litter the next day, but I decided to see just how long the coffee grounds would last.
After 3 days I just plain had to abandon my experiment. I needed to scrub the boxes and start with all fresh litter. Even after 3 days though the coffee was still working great.
Now when I start with fresh litter I also add 1/4 cup baking soda and 1/4 cup fresh coffee grounds. I am able to scoop the box without adding any fresh litter for a week. I have 4 cats, so that’s really saying something.
Even if you don’t drink coffee, there are so many uses for the grounds around the house that it pays to keep a can handy. And you never know when company will show up!
Thanks to LunnaKitty3 for participating in the [Grow] Network Writing Contest.
We have over $2,097 in prizes lined up for the Fall 2015 Writing Contest, including all of the following:
– A 21.5 quart pressure canner from All American, a $382 value
– A Survival Still emergency water purification still, a $288 value
– 1 free 1 year membership in the [Grow] Network Core Community, a $239 value
– A Worm Factory 360 vermicomposting system from Nature’s Footprint, a $128 value
– 2 large heirloom seed collections from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, valued at $103 each
– A Metro-Grower Elite sub-irrigation growing container from Nature’s Footprint, a $69 value
– 2 copies of the complete Home Grown Food Summit, valued at $67 each
– 3 free 3 month memberships in the [Grow] Network Core Community, valued at $59 each
– 4 copies of the Grow Your Own Groceries DVD video set, valued at $43 each
– A Bug Out Seed Kit from the Sustainable Seed Company, a $46 value
– 4 copies of the Alternatives To Dentists DVD video, valued at $33 each
– 4 copies of the Greenhouse of the Future DVD and eBook, valued at $31 each
COMMENTS(10)
Coffee is TOOOOO expensive to throw in the litter box, better to just not have cats
Not nearly as expensive as the destruction caused by rodents…I’ll keep the cats:)
A bucket, a can, and a dap of peanut butter will catch a mouse better than any cat……. AND you don’t have to feed it, you don’t have to clean its litter box (cuz it don’t have one) it wont shred your couch to bits. JS……..
Yes but a bucket isn’t very cuddly! 😉
I’m allergic to cats.
1/4 cup of coffee grounds once a week sounds like it might be worth giving this a try. I have a stinky cat so this better work!
Thanks for the tip. I have some coffee sitting around I am not that crazy about, but don’t want to throw away so I will give this a try.
I was skeptical, but wow…that worked. I can stock some cheap coffee for the sake of aroma therapy, shall we say. One for the cat—one for me. One for the cat—two for me, haha. Thank you so much!
I like the idea of repurposing something, even something that is considered expensive today. If it takes care of the odor unperked is it possible it would work perked too, maybe you would need a little more? You never know when some of these crazy ideas will come in handy somewhere else. The take away is coffee absorbs odors – bad ones – so…
My Husband asked me today… could we spread used coffee on newspaper, dry it and try using it perked? Since I don’t know I’m off to try it:)
Let me know if you have success!