Sep 02 2008
Recycling Coffee Grinds
Science Fair Project
My 7th grade daughter was a bit frantic tonight, as she was trying to figure out what topic to choose for her science fair project. The science fair project is the entire curriculum for the first three months of her honors science class. The project topic summary is due tomorrow, so she had to pick a project quickly! And it had to be a project she will enjoy, as she will be working on it everyday until the science fair which takes place in November. Three months is a long time to work on something you’re not interested in.
We had all three laptops running this evening, as my husband and I helped her to pick a project. We found many sites listing various science fair projects, I think that was the problem. She was totally overwhelmed by all the choices. One site had an A to Z listing of HUNDREDS of projects. YIKES - too many options!
I knew we had to pick something that I could help her with. Originally I thought it should be something to do with electronics or aviation, so her dad could help her out, but he seemed less than enthusiastic to help. Go figure. So we were looking at all the food, cooking, gardening and botany related projects, as those are all areas I have a bit of experience with. I finally came upon a recycling science project page and saw a listing for recycling coffee grinds.
EUREKA! I have been using used Starbucks coffee grinds in my organic garden for a number of years, with fantastic results. So here is my daughter’s final science project outline:
Topic:
Recycling Coffee Grinds in Organic Gardens
Question:
Can coffee grinds be used to fertilize plants?
I will be posting up additional information on the progress of the science fair project as it becomes available. I think we will be using tomato plants, in various soil to coffee grind ratios, and keeping track of how well they grow. Sounds like it can turn out to be a pretty cool science fair project. Or am I just living vicariously through my daughter? I don’t remember participating in any science fair projects when I was a kid - bummer.
2 Responses to “Recycling Coffee Grinds”
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Is your daughter is going to be using the coffee grounds as an additive to the soil mix in which the plants are going to be planted or as a top dressing (which ensures ongoing utilization of the grounds), or both?
It’s a really cool idea either way! Best of luck!
/krys
Hi Krys,
We’ll have a total of 7 test container gardens. One will have the grounds on top, others will have various ratios of coffee grinds to soil, plus one all soil container and one all coffee grind container. I’ll be posting up more details, and pictures, as the science project progresses.
Thanks for stopping by Herb Gardens!
Take care,
Lynn