--- Damn. The secret's out.
I cannot tell you how many people, every spring, would ask me for
espresso grinds for their gardens when I worked at for Caribou. I was
happy to give them away. After all, they were just going to go in the
garbage. If someone wanted the damn things, well, that was their
perogative. It was a messy business at first, because we hadn't quite
figured out how to line the bash box (the box where the barista smacks
out the dead grinds from the espresso machine brewheads) with a garbage
bag. But once we figured it out---whammo---everyone and their brother
wanted some grinds for their gardens. Reportedly there was some rumor
spreading about how much quicker a garden started growing once you used
the grinds. Which, here in Minnesota where the growing season is maybe
four months long if you're lucky, led to a rush on grinds every May.
While this is a cool thing overall, the baristas and the management
have my sympathy. Do the higher-ups at Charbucks have any idea how much
extra work this is going to mean for the people behind the bar? Idiots.
What an effing mess. Add it up. Every store will need another trash can
for the grinds. This, of course, is on top of the one for the regular
trash and the recycling. Then, of course, someone will have to actually
"do" something with the grinds. Can't just take the grinds out to the
trash. Nope. They've got to be picked up, the manager will have to set
that up and deal with the vagaries involved with one more person
picking something up from a store where there are already loads of
deliveries and pickups. The grinds probably have to go into a special
garbage bag, as well, because they're wet, and heavy and a regular 50
gallon bag full of grinds would break under the stress. I could go on,
but I think you get the gist.
If I were a manager still, I'd be pissed off at this one.