Did you know that besides waking you up, coffee can wake up your compost bin? It can; so after you make your morning cup, save your grounds for your compost bin.

Home composters can face a challenge to get needed nitrogen into the mix, especially if they lack access to cut grass or similar sources of nitrogen. Coffee grounds can fill the gap.

Select green (for nitrogen; think cut grass or fresh vegetable scraps) and brown (for carbon; think fallen leaves) materials to add to your compost. Despite being brown in color, coffee contains abundant nitrogen. Carbon, nitrogen and sufficient moisture are what you need to make compost.

Coffee grounds small particle size greatly increases surface area. As more surface area is exposed, the decomposition process speeds up which generates more heat.

Have odor issues with your compost? You may find that adding coffee grounds helps: the additional heat helps break down intermediate components created by the composting process more quickly. Coffee also lends its aroma to the compost.

What goes into compost doesn’t go into the waste stream. While making compost to improve your soil, you’re also saving yourself and your community money that would otherwise go toward hauling fees and increased landfill capacity.

So: before you toss out your next batch of coffee grounds, think about tossing them into your compost bin to create better soil and reduce waste!