Ground to Ground is a network of businesses offering nutrient-rich coffee grounds for use by consumers. Businesses involved in this program collect their used coffee grounds and offer them to consumers rather than throw them in the landfill. University Housing would like to create a similar coffee ground network on the Urbana-Champaign campus to re-purpose the large volume of coffee grounds being created at the dining halls. The project has two main goals. First, the project would further minimize the amount of food items being directed to the landfill from University Dining Halls. Second, and more importantly, the program is an educational tool to demonstrate to our students how nearly every item they dispose of has an alternative use as opposed to being sent to the landfill. 

This team's desire for this program is to become a teaching tool in the classrooms on our – as well as other campus across the country – on the repurposing of food waste. They want the coffee grounds to be used by Orchard Downs residents on their garden plots, and as a research tool for the Sustainability Living-Learning Community and Planeteers. This team already has commitment from the Sustainable Student Farm to include the coffee grounds in their vermin-culture composting program starting this spring, but also want this to be a catalyst for expanding the farm offerings to mushrooms. This team would like to see the coffee grounds utilized on the test permaculture plots to create a closed loop food system.