Have you met our amazing neighbours?
Not only are the weekly Alphington Farmers Market held at the Alphington site, but we also have an amazing community of neighbours at 2 Wingrove Street. Let us introduce you to Reground!
Reground is a local social enterprise that has rescued over 1.6 million kilos of coffee from landfill with the help of local gardeners.
Everyone loves their morning coffee, each year across Australia, coffee consumption adds up to 75 million kilos of ground coffee waste, which, when sent to landfill, contributes to 3% of the nation’s total greenhouse gas emissions. The decomposition of ground coffee in landfills produces methane, a greenhouse gas more than 28 times more harmful than carbon dioxide.
Fortunately, there’s a solution brewing right here in Melbourne. With the help of local cafes, roasters, and community gardeners, Reground has successfully diverted over 1.6 million kilos, (the equivalent of over 45,920,000 lattes) of ground coffee from landfill, instead turning waste into a resource for local gardeners.
An Introduction to Reground
Reground, founded in 2014 by barista Ninna K. Larsen, is Australia’s first ground coffee recycling service. Influenced by her Danish upbringing and observations of Scandinavia’s advanced waste management systems, Larsen started Reground on the belief that ground coffee - a rich organic resource that Australia has historically sent to landfill - should never go to waste.
By partnering with Melbourne’s top cafes and coffee roasters, Reground has established a thriving circular economy solution for coffee waste. This system redirects coffee grounds back into the soil of local gardeners, providing essential nutrients for healthy plant growth. For cafes, it’s an easy way to reduce landfill waste while directly supporting their local community and environment. For gardeners, it’s a free and fantastic way to boost compost and soil health.
Coffee Powered Gardens
Ground coffee is often overlooked as a rich source of nutrients essential to robust soil. Adding coffee to your garden nourishes the soil, a study conducted by ACE Contractors Group found ground coffee to be high in both macro and micronutrients, particularly carbon and nitrogen.
With the help of Reground - home, community, and school gardeners have been able to use ground coffee to nourish their gardens completely free of charge, thanks to Reground’s award-winning service and their cafe partners.
Reground has had the privilege of delivering to numerous local home, community, and school gardens over the years, but one particularly cherished partner is Camberwell South Primary School (CSPS).
Virginia, the kitchen and garden specialist at Camberwell South Primary (CSP), discovered Reground in 2019, after seeing a feature on Gardening Australia. Since then, CSPS has received over 25 truckloads of ground coffee from Reground. Helping turn their dry barren plot into a thriving and flourishing garden space that the school community takes pride in.
CSPS students are always eager to help add ground coffee to the school’s compost and worm farms, and Reground is thrilled to support schools and gardeners in fostering and sharing sustainability practices.
What’s Next?
Reground is now heading towards its next major milestone of diverting 2 million kilograms of coffee from landfill. They are working closer than ever with coffee roasters through a developing model called Circular Coffee, which tackles coffee waste from the ground up by holding roasters accountable for the entire lifecycle of their product.
This model represents a significant shift in how the industry views waste, giving coffee a new lease on life. By turning what was once seen as waste into a valuable resource, Reground is making a substantial impact on the environment and local communities.
How can you get involved and support Reground?
Gardeners: Book a Free Ground Coffee For Your Garden Melbourne | Reground — Reground Reground can deliver within approximately 30 km of the HQ in Alphington, Victoria - as well as in regional Victoria through our Remote Reground partners.
Coffee drinkers: Ask your barista how their cafe addresses ground coffee waste on your morning coffee run.
Find out more about Reground here and visit their Instagram here.
Image Credit: Reground