There are a number of ways you can dispose of coffee grounds in your french press. You can use water, a spatula, a paper towel, or specially made tools to scoop the grounds out! You can then throw them in the garbage can, garbage disposal, or compost bin.
There are plenty of safe and effective methods for getting rid of coffee grounds. However, there are also some very common mistakes that are made when it comes to getting rid of them as well. Read on to find out everything you need to know about how to dispose of coffee grounds in a french press.
How to dispose of coffee grounds in a french press
As mentioned above, there are a number of ways you can get your coffee grounds out of your french press and dispose of them safely and effectively. There are also ways you can do it wrong though, so you can’t be careless.
First, you’ll actually need to get the grounds out of the french press. There are a number of tools you can use for this, including the plunger on the press, soap and water, a rubber spatula, paper towel, newspaper, a sink mesh strainer, and more!
Next, you’ll need to actually get rid of the coffee grounds. Don’t put them down the drain. Instead, you’ll want to either throw them in the regular garbage or, if you’re feeling environmentally conscious and have the ability to, you can compost them.
Why not down the drain?
The reason you don’t want to put coffee grounds down the drain of your sink is because of the way that they interact with water. As you’ve probably seen in the bottom of your french press, coffee grounds tend to clump up when wet. Over time, if you are putting coffee grounds down your sink, they will clump, stick, and prevent water from going down properly.
This can do long-term damage to your plumbing in the worst cases, or just prevent your drain from doing what it needs to do.
Swirling water
First, you’ll need to actually get the grounds out of the french press! One of the easiest and most effective ways is to put some warm water into your french press to try to break up the grounds. For particularly stubborn grounds that are sticking to the bottom, try adding some dish soap.
Swirl the dish soap and warm water around the bottom of your french press for 30 seconds or so, until the grounds are all off the bottom. You can then dump this mixture in the garbage or the compost bin.
A rubber spatula
If swirling the water around isn’t working, you can try using a rubber spatula to scoop the grounds out. This is a more directly effective way to get the grounds out, but it does dirty a spatula. There’s also the chance you don’t have a rubber spatula that fits into your french press, as there are french presses of many different sizes.
However, if you have access to it, this is one of the most effective ways to scoop the grounds directly out of the press.
Paper towel
If you don’t have a rubber spatula, a paper towel can be a suitable substitute. This way is a little messier, but it definitely gets the job done. Simply wrap your hand in some paper towel and scoop it out.
Wrap the grounds you’ve scooped in the paper towel and dispose of the entire thing in the trash can or dump the grounds in the compost and throw away the paper towel.
You can also use gravity, and try to dump all the grounds directly onto a paper towel. This is riskier as it can make a bigger mess, and sometimes that grounds don’t become unstuck from the bottom of the press. That being said, it is easier and more time-efficient.
Newspaper
If you don’t have or don’t want to use a paper towel, and would rather use an old newspaper, the same technique as above can be used with a newspaper instead.
Sink mesh strainer
If your sink has a sink mesh strainer over the drain, then you can just dump your french press out right in the drain! Since the grounds clump together so much, they will not go through the mesh strainer. After you’ve dumped them all out, you can simply take the mesh strainer out of your sink and empty it into whatever receptacle you have available to you.
The garbage
Now, you’ll have to decide where you’re going to put the coffee grounds. The most common place is to just throw them away in the garbage. Although not the most environmentally friendly option, it is the easiest and the one most people have access to, so there’s nothing wrong with just chucking your old coffee grounds in the trash bin.
Garbage disposal
If there’s a garbage disposal in your sink, you can actually just dump the grounds directly down and flip it on. It will grind them up easily and put them in the trash where they’re supposed to go.
Again, if you don’t have a garbage disposal in your sink, you should avoid putting coffee grounds in your sink. It will eventually damage your plumbing and make your drain not work the way it’s supposed to.
Compost
The ideal way to dispose of the coffee grounds that are at the bottom of your french press is to compost them. This way, they are not in your sink ruining your drain, and they are not in the garbage where they’ll take a long time to decompose. The compost is simple, effective, and environmentally friendly.
Fertilizer
Lastly, if you’re a gardener, you can actually use coffee grounds as a sort of homemade fertilizer. This can help grow vegetables in your garden faster and more effectively and help you dodge the cost of having to buy expensive fertilizer at the store.
Hi, I’m Jen Williams, chief editor and writer for ThirstPerk.com.
I’ve been drinking coffee and tea for most of my life, but it wasn’t until I started working at Thirstperk.com that I became an expert on the subject. I’m a total caffeine addict who has spent hours upon hours reading about and experimenting with the different types of coffees out there in my search to find the perfect cup of joe.
I’ve been a tea lover for as long as I can remember as well. I grew up in a house with a mom who loved to drink herbal tea, and I think that’s where my love for tea first began. These days, I’m always on the lookout for new and interesting teas to try, and I love experimenting with different brewing methods and flavoring combinations.