Is there a way to have them do it regularly if they know you are coming to pick them up. Does anyone have them just leave them near the dumpster so you don't have to go through the whole wait in line like a customer and then ask embarrassingly for their used coffee grounds?

Has anyone ever just ransacked their dumpster to find bags already filled with used coffee grounds maybe mixed with some light trash? It's not really worth a special trip to either Starbucks just for a small 5# bag. Anyone with tips/helpful advice to score the mother lode each time / every time you go there? I left my name and number so I was hoping I had a sure thing every day but I guess if they forget, they forget...

So I quite going there and instead I put an ice cream pail next to the coffee pot on the two floors here at work and put a note on them. Now I come home with about 1-2 gallons of UCGs and bannana peels, apple cores, orange peels, and a few other things a day. It's actually worked out great.

I make an effort to learn their names, and always thank them. If someone else gets the coffee grounds before I do, I express pleasure that someone else is also taking advantage of the resource. But I make it a point to get there every day, and they are expecting to see me.

I have left tips now and then, and I sometimes buy an ice caramel mocha or a bag of beans for my brother when the manager is there so that he feels like the reward for the efforts are more than just karmic.

My main point is to be dogged about stopping in, be pleasant about asking, be thankful when they hand over grounds, and be gracious when there are none.

Good luck.

On a positive note the one of 3 Starbucks I went to today did have a clear bag and they were saving them (it's the 1 Starbucks that told me they always save UCG as one of the employees there has a bf that works at some garden center or nursery and uses them. At least that is a reliable place that will have a better chance of having more than the foil 5# bags. The other place closer to where I lived the same guy was there and he said he will save them for me so I am happy even if it is sporadic as it will definitely be an improvement to before when I wasn't getting these nice stashes of UCGs regularly.

Some of the stores are quite close to each other (3 of them on the same stretch of road, just a few miles apart), but passing 5 in a day is rare for me. Just happened that I had errands in 3 parts of town today...

Did you Search for 'grounds' or 'Starbucks'.

One thread you will want to read is titled 'no more grounds ...' as I recall. On it a number of composters related their Starbucks, and I gave my method of securing 50-200 pounds of grounds a week.

As to the whether it is a good idea to raid dumpsters, that depends mostly on the actions of the composter. If you have been granted access (once is all it took), and you don't make a mess, in most cases there will be no problem.

As I mentioned in other posts, I have a special tool to grab and remove bags without ripping them open. And I put a Rubbermaid container just outside the bin to catch anything that does leak out. A brush and pan are also kept in the car to clean up any loose grounds that escape. Don't forget to leave the gate in the position it was before you came.

Six years ago there were three grocery stores where one could collect fruit and veggie wastes. Now there is only one, but on a sunday I can still find eight 40 gallon trash bags of veggie waste to cart off. Don't expect anyone to tell you where their favorite collection sites are, they might rethink it and decide you should meet with an accident.

Anyway, that day there were three SB employees putting the trash in the dumpster. I asked if they had any grounds to give away. One employee said no. There was not much I could say, although I did resist my natural urge to say thanks. With the bag level above the dumpster, I estimated the contents at 1-4 bags of espresso grounds (what they give you inside the store), and two to eight bags of mixed grounds and trash. I didn't argue, just said OK and left.

So I guess this reinforces my natural instinct to go to the dumpster and avoid the store and employees. If you drink coffee and have a relationship with the employees, it might be different.

Val

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experiences with trying to acquire grounds. It can be a little hit and miss sometimes, I've worked at 3 different stores; my first store was really bad about saving their grounds, we didn't have room for an organics bin, so everything just went it the trash. We saved our grounds in foil bags for a while, but very few people requested it. I'm sure if you left a message with the manager, or even spoke to them in person and told them that you would be stopping by every day or every second day they would be more than happy to fil up a foil bag or a garbage bag specifically for you. You could even leave your own pail and (at least at my store) we'll fill it up for you.
If you live in a downtown core, you'll probably have your choice of at least 4 Starbucks.

Robertz6, I still never got an answer as to what that tool was that you use and how you get them out of the dumpster. Also with that fateful walk with your dog past that SB on Dec 25th 2008 and with 3 SB employees you encountered where they told you they had no UCGs, did you then go back later to raid their dumpster or would you get that same feeling that you were breaking the law?

As to the political correctness, or legal nice-a-tees,
1) Ask the first time
2) be discreet
3) clean up any mess you make
4) if you go inside, get to know once or two of the employees
5) if they ask you to stop, find another store

If the stores would save most of the grounds I would be happy to go into the store and wait until an employee is free. But as I mentioned in other posts; I estimate that stores pitch 80-90% of the grounds they use.

The place was tiny and didn't do that much business. But I did pick up 2 or 3 five gallon buckets of grounds weekly. I supplied a new, clean bucket each time I picked up. I occasionally bought a cup of coffee (though not those fancy, sissy latte things which I don't like). And all through the summer garden season I brought big beautiful flower bouquets for the shop. I kept them supplied with pretty flowers spring through fall.

Sadly, the shop went out of business a few months ago. Not enough people in this neighborhood are willing to pay $5 for a cup of coffee when they can get it down the street at McDonald's for a buck. (Proof that SB knows the meaning of demographics).

Karen