Go Green Committee | DLT Solutions Recycles Coffee Grounds for Compost

Where’s the Dirt at DLT? I’ll bet that most people don’t often think about dirt. For most of us, the only dirt we experience on a daily basis is what’s happening in Hollywood with the latest celebrity antics and what we need to wash off potatoes before baking them. There isn’t much of a connection to where and how our food grows before it reaches the supermarket in nice, neat little packages. Baby carrots, anyone? I recently talked with DLT’s very own David Masembwa about his dirt. You’ll recognize David as the initiator of the recent DLT Go Green Committee action to recycle coffee grounds. And we use a lot of coffee grounds at DLT. I was curious how he planned to use the grounds and what the benefit would be to his garden. David has been gardening for many years, primarily focused on vegetables but balancing that out with a bit of landscaping for aesthetics. He’s been composting on a large scale for the last seven years. That’s where the DLT dirt comes in. Coffee grounds, it turns out, make a great addition to compost.  Not only do they enhance the texture, nutrients and aroma of the compost, they also help to maintain the proper soil pH. David is able to keep his dirt healthy, which allows him to be less dependent on garden chemicals. In addition to the coffee grounds, David adds all sorts of vegetable matter, lawn clippings, fruit scraps and yard trimmings to his compost pile. That is recycling at its very best! David shared some additional tips to Go Green in your own garden:
  • Keep your soil healthy (proper nutrients, proper pH, non compacted) to be less dependent on commercial fertilizers and pesticides;
  • Use native plants. They require less water and human intervention to be healthy in your climate. They also provide natural cover and a food source for local birds and insects;
  • Try companion planting. Many plants provide benefits to other plants in the garden. For example: peas, beans and clover take atmospheric nitrogen and fixate it into the soil, eliminating the need for chemical nitrogen fertilizer. Some plants also attract helpful insects, like ladybugs, who in turn will eat destructive insects like aphids.
If you have any questions, there are multiple resources available on the internet and local bookstores. Your local agricultural co-op/extension is also a good source for locating native plants for your area. Submitted by Guest Writer: Amy Flynn Styers, Chair of the DLT Go Green Committee
Go Green Committee
Recycling