42035

Did you know that the average American consumes about 3 cups of coffee a day? That's a lot of used coffee grinds going into the trash.

There are actually many ways you can recycle and reuse your old coffee grinds to help preserve the environment and maintain your health.

A Cup of Joe Goes a Long Way

You'd be surprised at just how many different methods have worked for people:

* Touch up furniture and other wood scratches with grounds and a Q-tip

* Sprinkle around areas where pesky insects, slugs and snails dwell to drive them away

* Mix with soil as a natural fertilizer for plants

* Dye clothing or paper

* Rub into your dog as an organic flea dip

* Fill old nylons and hang in your closet or fridge to repel odors

* Use to fill old pin cushions

* Scrub away grease and grime from pots and pans

* Throw on ashes before cleaning out the fireplace to reduce dust from spreading

* Feed to worms to help with your garden

* Rub on your hands to eliminate odors

* Mix grinds with one egg white and massage onto face like a mud pack

If you're not an avid coffee drinker but you live near a coffee shop or caf, you can always ask them for the old grinds. Places like Starbucks actually give bags of used grinds away to people who use them for their home and gardens.

Recycling is just one way that we can help maintain the natural beauty of our environment, so next time you drink a cup of coffee save those coffee grinds for future use.

Trish Smith is a copywriter for Green Student U, Student Finance Domain and Study Abroad Domain, websites that are devoted to providing college students with helpful environmental, financial and study abroad advice.

Reuters - U.S. swimming sensation Michael Phelps races on Sunday for the first of the unprecedented eight Olympic golds he is targeting in the futuristic Water Cube pool.