Alan, not disputing the value of coffee grounds but you don't say where you deposit these 20 pounds of grounds.

Twenty pounds per week....1000 lbs annually...I agree, that's a lot of coffee...
Would you say you add as much grass clippings or other organic matter to the same place you put the grounds in.

I think most people, going into a store and asking for their garbage, might be either refused simply because they think you're crazy....or it would be a hassle for them to bother with--they have better things to do with their time than worry about your collecting as per any schedule.

I once asked at a Casino near me, what they did with their kitchen scraps. Can you imagine the amount they deal with.

Well, it all is picked up by truck every day as per a contract and where it goes, nobody knows.
I'm sure though some wise composting company is making good use of it and us gardeners see it in bags at the nurseries and garden centers.

My point is, such a large volume of such material I'm sure is well mixed with other organics and is tested before going out for sale to the general public.
A thousand pounds of coffee grounds that you use...I'm guesing being thrown into your compost pile, is doing what to it.....do you know?

I was thinking the exact same thing about some of the local gas stations/convenience stores here that sell a lot of coffee but I have not summoned the strength to ask. I think I will now! What are they going to say? No? I really need more courage when it comes to things like this.

Jeannie7, your post is pretty funny. Coffee grounds don't last a year in a compost pile so I doubt he has a smoldering pile of half a ton of coffee grounds. And even if he did, who cares? It's coffee, not radioactive material.

Let's go under the assumption that alan8 knows a little something about composting and makes good use of the large volume of grounds collected.

I'd love to do an extra collection myself, but my composting operation is big enough as it is - making good use of the grounds from my own consumption as well as the large amount of other compostable materials from my own property.

Our city has a large composting operation, that, in addition to the usual material, handles food material from restaurants, casinos, as well as from people who don't or can't compost for a variety of reasons. Much of the product is used in the many gardens and parks and golf courses and municipal buildings, etc. Some of it is also bagged for sale to the public. It is certified to meet established standards - and says so on the package - I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that there is truth in labeling.

jeannie7: I'm never quite sure what kind of wisdom your posts/responses are an attempt to impart.

Now, now, everyone has an opinion and that's what makes this forum such a valuable source of information. If alan8 has a small city lot yeah that might be too much coffee, but if he has acreage it may not be enough. He didn't specify that detail so the question is understandable.

We live near a small Texas town where the two convenience stores probably produce a ton of coffee grounds in a year all by their little bitty selfs. I'm glad that alan8 thought of this because it sure would be a lot more convenient for me to swing by one of those places for coffee than to straggle all the way over to Fort Worth, fight the highway traffic, and face down the parking lot commandoes for a sack of Starbucks Gourmet UCGs.(which I hve done more than once)

I hope that duluthinbloomz4 really can trust the city's labeling of their compost products even though you have no earthly way to know what's really in there. I used a similar product one time, 8 bags of it, and it killed everything it touched. Doggone it, someone forgot to mention to the city they had disposed of all that soil after it was contaminated with Roundup. Like I said, I hope you can trust their truth in labeling. When you make your compost at home you really do know exactly what's in it and don't have to give anyone the benefit of the doubt. Cheryl

Sorry you had a bad experience. Mine with our local "Garden Green" product when I needed a few cubic feet of additional material was an exceptionally good one. Can't speak for all jurisdictions, but so far I have no reason not to be trusting. I mean, in a sense of trying to be certain about the non-contamination of everything - do you really know for sure the organic grower you buy from at a farmers market didn't unwittingly suffer wind drift of chemicals from the non organic field next door?

I didn't think Round Up left residuals in the soil for a long period of time - why else do they say after 72 hours you can you can dig, chop, rototill, and pretty much do as you please because the herbicide has been translocated through out the plant. The manufacture claims that Round-up does not have any residual effect, which means that you can safely plant in an area where Round-up has been used. Of course, that's the manufacturer talking.

Help us out, Alan8. How big an area are you composting for or spreading coffee grounds over?

I used to collect 250-300 lbs. of UCGs from a gas station every week. These grounds fed my modest 4 piles in the summer as well as our lawn. In one out of three weeks, the filters would be separated and the grounds would be flung on the lawn. Our lawn is now so healthy and lush and green all summer. DH has forbidden me to do anymore flinging since it grows so thick and fast.

In the winter, I compost using the UCGs to keep things hot/warm. The pile is actually a windrow, usually in an area where I wish to create a garden in the future. The windrow is easier to keep active in the winter.

I don't pick-up from the gas station anymore. I now work at a Tim Horton's which would be the Canadian equivalent of a Starbucks on steroids. No fancy coffees here, but major volume. So now I can pick my days and how much. BTW, someone else took over my gas station pick-up which I was happy about.

I think it's great that you are picking up as you are Alan8. It's a great soil/compost amendment and you'll be richly rewarded.

As per Jeannie, you do confuse. Perhaps you are confused. I know that many of us do pick-ups for our composts from various places whether it be a coffee shop, produce store, mom and pop convenience store, etc. It's not difficult to ask and it benefits everyone. In my case, the owner of the Tim Horton's has told me it's costing him less to have the organics picked-up since I started taking the UCGs away. So we both benefit.

We also have to consider that UCGs are wet and so weigh more than the dry stuff. 1000 lbs... piece of cake!! Getting rid of that on even a city lot wouldn't be an issue. Not after my experience in the last 5 years.

Thanks for all the posts. I was only trying to suggest to everyone a new source of free coffee grounds. I don't feel the need to justify my use or skill but I have plenty of greens and browns to accomodate 50 plus pounds of grounds per week. I have 9.5 acres of cultivated ground. I think I can find a place to use the compost I make.
As far as being shy about asking for coffee grounds, I live in South Alabama and maybe it's just the general culture here, but everyone who grew up here in this rural friendly place knows the value of coffee grounds used in worm beds (for fishing) but composting is not so popular yet. When I explain what I'm using them for, I'm treated like some kind of hero. Using what they usually throw in the trash for growing good food seems to most of the folks down here like a neat idea. I've lived in this community for 52 years and most of the people who work at these stores have known me and my family for many years, so they are friends anyway.
Jeannie7 from Ontario, in Alabama we assume the best in folks and don't spend a lot of our time trying to find fault in whatever someone says. I appreciate your deep concern for my situation and hope you sleep better tonight.

Hi Alan

Well said. Now I have a quick question...Just how many POUNDS do those 20 GALLONS weigh? (wink wink)

Lloyd

Lloyd, just enough weight to make an old guy smile....twice a week!

I got the nerve to ask my local Starbucks yesterday if I could have their spent coffee grounds. I only got two pot-fulls of grounds yesterday, but left them a kitty-litter bucket with lid to fill for me for today. I stopped by today to pick up and got about an awesome 3 gallons of coffee grounds! I left another bucket and told them I would be happy to return tomorrow for more. I hope that this continues. They are located inside a grocery store and it probably looks a bit odd for me to come in with a bucket, but I'll stop in every day as long as they'll willfully keep dumping spent grounds in these buckets for me. The location couldn't be any more convenient unless I opened my own Starbucks nook in my basement.

clumsygrdner, if I got the nerve to ask, you can too! I'll be interested in how the convenience store coffee ground-collecting works in our area. We'll have to share what locations we visit, so we don't step on each other's toes. lol

If you see any leaf bags at people's curbs in the Andover/Hamburg area, please let me know. I've been watching that area like a hawk on my trips back home every night. So far not a single leaf bag anywhere! The trees are only the last couple days starting to give-up their leaves. I'll be needing alot of leaves to mix with the coffee grounds. :)