Once the coffee has finished brewing and the grounds removed, there typically isn’t much thought put toward where the used coffee will end up. They have served their purpose. You, or someone you love, is now enjoying a cup of freshly brewed coffee, and so ends the tale of 3 heaping tablespoons of ground coffee beans – or so we thought. Aside from utilizing coffee grounds to craft homemade face scrubs, dye stationary, or even fertilize plants, what good is a pile of used coffee? Thanks to a handful of clever individuals, the purpose of the humble coffee bean may continue well beyond the 0.2% usefulness it has experienced for decades.
Putting Grounds to Good Use

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. And when it comes to the pure love of coffee, a whole slew of hurdles didn’t slow down true coffee enthusiasts such as Jason Chen. A simple office joke gained serious footing before S.Cafe® got off the ground (no pun intended). When an individual stopped by a coffee shop asking for used grounds, someone made the joke that he would smell better if he coated his sports apparel in coffee grounds to cover his smell. That good idea is all it took for Chen to dive in head first. By utilizing a renewable resource such as coffee, S.Cafe® is well on its way to becoming one of the top producers of biobased fabrics. With brand partners ranging from Asics to LL Bean, S.Cafe® continues to be a strong producer of eco-friendly apparel, featuring anti-pilling and odor control characteristics.

If coffee is your go to for that daily jolt you crave, Xpresole Panto shoes can help get you on your way. This lightweight boot is created with coffee yarn, coffee-infused fabric, and spent coffee grounds. Although other materials are also utilized in the manufacture of this footwear, the fact still remains: you can have your coffee and wear it, too. For those of you who have been on the lookout for a pair of durable, waterproof, and washable boots, Ccilu® has just what you’re looking for. This Kickstarter funding project ends on July 20th, 2021, with the aim of providing a minimum of two style variations in three color options: black, white, and brown, as well as a few others should the fundraiser reach various goals.

Many writers appreciate a mug of coffee while they scribble away at a nonsensical notebook full of their hopes and dreams, and thoughts. Coffee Based notebooks combine the best of both worlds, for a mode of note taking coffee lovers cannot deny. In fact, one A5 sized notebook from Coffee Based is created using two cups worth of recycled coffee grounds. If you’d like to purchase a notebook to fill during your caffeine filled rants, now is the time to grab one from this Netherlands-based company.
Coffee Based is on a mission to discover countless ways to utilize a material that is otherwise disposed of. For this reason, they also put efforts toward developing a coffee cup that is made from recycled sugar cane and recycled coffee grounds. After much testing and tweaking, Coffee Based finally perfected their product with The Lucky Cup. Available in a 5 pack, The Lucky Cup is an espresso-sized black cup that is dishwasher safe, washable up to 1000 times in an industrial washer.