Coffee Grounds in the backcountry

Dave V

Moderator
Staff member
I either use the Chatsford mug infuser, designed for tea but works just fine for coffee, or the drip filter from Speedster. The Speedster one is heavier but makes a nicer coffee IMO.

Regarding the coffee grinds, I have always scattered them. Before lockdown, I assisted with some tree planting / wildflower seeding in Helensburgh. One of the ecologists that lead the group scattered coffee grinds and noted that they were excellent for wildflower growth as well as other plant life.
 

Stuart

Section Hiker
It's all about amounts I imagine. A few scattered in a remote place is probably fine. Loads in a popular place less so.
 

Rog Tallbloke

Thru Hiker
Such excess no wonder your pack is so heavy.
Got to carry a few luxury items. I hate instant "coffee".
It's all about amounts I imagine. A few scattered in a remote place is probably fine. Loads in a popular place less so.
Even popular places have plenty of patches no-one ever treads in or looks closely at. It's a commonsense thing IMO. @Nigelp says I'm missing the point, but no-one has ever clearly explained to me what the point is.
 

Norrland

Thru Hiker
It's not so much coffee (or anything) being biodegradable. It's the fact that many of these things aren't natural to the given environment you are in. I wouldnt particularly like seeing a banana skin laying anywhere in nature in northern Europe for example. Also why in Scandinavia there is always a local supply of wood for burning left at many shelters and camp spots. To stop people bringing their own that aren't natural to the local nature. Also the fact no one wants to see half eaten fruit and other crap lying around. Not nice to see. Either carry out or bury it. Especially in the UK which is a very small and dense country with a lot of people, the mess can quickly add up.
 

Rog Tallbloke

Thru Hiker
I wouldnt particularly like seeing a banana skin laying anywhere in nature in northern Europe ... no one wants to see half eaten fruit and other crap lying around. Not nice to see. Either carry out or bury it. Especially in the UK which is a very small and dense country with a lot of people, the mess can quickly add up.

I agree about banana skins and apple cores etc. These are visible, and don't belong there. They're also easy to bag and take away for disposal. This discussion is specifically about coffee grounds, which (with a small application of commonsense) are not going to be seen by or trouble anyone before they've degraded into the soil. But they are messy to recover and carry around.

I guess in the end, this is about where you set the line for your own principles and choices. I'm more of a (caring) pragmatist than a perfectionist.
 

Dave V

Moderator
Staff member
It's an interesting subject and one that could lead on to so many different avenues.

I have 1-3 ground coffees per camp location so that would be 75g ish of coffee grounds which I would scatter probably over a 5m2 area. Now I am not a scientist but to me, that has far less impact on the immediate and wider environment of an area than for instance; having a fire, moving rocks, river crossings, and pitching shelters that may worry wildlife into moving locations. I think one of the most overlooked things that most of us leave behind is human waste, buried.
 

Balagan

Thru Hiker
As Rog says, its a matter of personal choice and it depends where you draw the line and where you hike. In a natural park (most of the places we tend to think are still nice), chucking biodegradable rubbish is not allowed (and coffee grounds are often specifically mentioned). If you make the effort there, why not make it everywhere? And what's the difference between 75 grams of coffee grounds and 75 grams of apple cores that have been cut up in really, really small and tiny bits. ;)
 

cathyjc

Thru Hiker
Apple cores - drop it on a lump of rock and squish under foot it until it's just a wet pulp and completely unidentifiable. Less mess than the sheep/bird poop lying nearby.
Orange and banana skins - take home.
 

ADz

Thru Hiker
Apple cores - drop it on a lump of rock and squish under foot it until it's just a wet pulp and completely unidentifiable. Less mess than the sheep/bird poop lying nearby.
Orange and banana skins - take home.

I may be weird but I always eat Apple cores. They're completely edible. Only bit I don't eat is the stalk :)
 

Nigelp

Thru Hiker
As Rog says, its a matter of personal choice and it depends where you draw the line and where you hike. In a natural park (most of the places we tend to think are still nice), chucking biodegradable rubbish is not allowed (and coffee grounds are often specifically mentioned). If you make the effort there, why not make it everywhere? And what's the difference between 75 grams of coffee grounds and 75 grams of apple cores that have been cut up in really, really small and tiny bits. ;)
Leave no trace - for me that isn’t on sliding scale of leave no/some/maybe/trace!
Others can make their own minds up and do as they want or their conscience allows (because they will anyway!).
 
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Nigelp

Thru Hiker
It's an interesting subject and one that could lead on to so many different avenues.

I have 1-3 ground coffees per camp location so that would be 75g ish of coffee grounds which I would scatter probably over a 5m2 area. Now I am not a scientist but to me, that has far less impact on the immediate and wider environment of an area than for instance; having a fire, moving rocks, river crossings, and pitching shelters that may worry wildlife into moving locations. I think one of the most overlooked things that most of us leave behind is human waste, buried.
There is no definitive answer. In more upland settings then I would always take all waste except human waste home. In more lowland settings where it is warmer and better conditions for composting I may bag grounds and scatter, or bury them later at a suitable site away from camp or coffee spot, but usually happy to take all waste home and like to leave no trace of where I have camped. When I did winter mountaineering I would sometimes have to ‘poo’ in a bag and then bury later because where we camped was snow and after a thaw the poo would just be laying on the open ground.
 
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Rog Tallbloke

Thru Hiker
Leave no trace - for me that isn’t on sliding scale of leave no/some/maybe/trace!
Others can make their own minds up and do as they want or their conscience allows (because they will anyway!).
In my opinion, LNT is not some divinely ordained principle people should have on their conscience if they fail to live up to.
But thanks for finally defining what "the point" is, for you.
 

Nigelp

Thru Hiker
Sorry but you are directly contradicting your self here.
No I’m not. We are/were talking about leaving or taking coffee grounds etc home. Not human waste - there is no practical or hygienic way to take that home. You probably know that really and I’m not getting drawn into ‘pendants’ debate about what is or is not waste. For me LNT trace includes taking all waste home except human waste. The original post was a question about coffee grounds. Others have expressed there opinion as have I. If some take that as me being contradictory or as divinely ordained then that’s fine, I don’t care. I was just expressing a view on a forum not making up a rule for all to follow.
 

Alf Outdoors

F.K.A tarptent
I may be weird but I always eat Apple cores. They're completely edible. Only bit I don't eat is the stalk :)

All of an Apple core is edible...Except the seeds...Because they contain amygdalin, a substance that releases Cyanide into the blood stream when chewed and digested.
 
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