Gardeners are sure to dig this freebie! Have you ever wondered what Starbucks does with all of its used coffee grounds every day? The ubiquitous café just gives them away for FREE, as part of its Grounds For Your Garden program. Participating locations simply bag them up and leave them for customers to pick up for their garden or compost pile.
The used coffee grounds are placed in large silver bags with a “Grounds For Your Garden” label and can be found in a basket or bucket near the front door.
Be prepared, the bags can sometimes leak. As a result, you may want to be prepared with a large plastic bag in your car to transport them home. Otherwise, you might find a very large coffee stain in the backseat of your car.
The availability varies by store. Some days, you’ll find several bags and other times it will be empty. The best part is that with so many Starbucks locations, it’s easy to check multiple cafés in your travels.
On occasion, they can also be found at Starbucks locations within other stores — King Soopers, Safeway and Target.
In its more than 20 years, Grounds For Your Garden has evolved to become an important part of Starbucks effort to reduce the environmental impact of its stores. The program serves as another way to reuse coffee grounds.