Virginia man recycles used Dunkin’ Donuts coffee grounds to help environment
FLUVANNA COUNTY, Virg. (NBC, KYMA/KECY) - A new program in Fluvanna County is recycling used coffee grounds from Dunkin' Donuts, and it's helping people in the garden and beyond.
The coffee grounds from Dunkin' Donuts were going straight into the trash until one man had the idea to recycle them. Now, they're being used in people's homes, gardens, and even as face wash, from Dunkin' into dirt.
"I guess it's 60 million metric tons of coffee grounds are dumped into landfills. So I thought, well, you know, what a little bit we can do to help out," said Gary Greenwood, a Fluvanna County resident.
Greenwood is a teacher in Fluvanna. After reading an article, he decided to start his own recycling program.
Help from Dunkin'
"He asked if we...I would be willing to give him my used coffee grounds that we use in the store. Thought it was a little odd. Never had that request before," said Geri Anderson, Dunkin' Donut's General Manager.
Dunkin was happy to help giving him 80 pounds a week of used coffee grounds.
"It saves us on a lot of really heavy trash bags that, you know, between shifts and stuff. It's worked out great," Anderson shared.
Greenwood distributes the coffee grounds to anyone who wants them saying, "Some people just put it in their compost pile and add more nutrients to that way. But it's also keeps certain bugs away, like slugs and snails and that sort of thing. So that you know, you sprinkle it around your plants.
Goals and hopes
The goal is to recycle more than 4,000 pounds of grounds every year.
"When you're talking about 60 million metric tons, we got a lot more to do. But, we need to get more people involved in this kind of things. But, this is good. If we can get the word out, there other places see it and get started," Greenwood explained.
As for what's next? Greenwood hopes to put more pick up buckets like this around the county.
"I'm excited because this is...you know...you enjoy seeing...you know...the business with the community and the schools and everybody working together for something that's really important," Greenwood expressed.
