Close-up of a single brown coffee bean labeled 'Arabica 25.04.03' with a small brown bottle dripping a drop above it.

Coffee Lovers

From Waste to Wonder, Coffee grounds reimagined / 2025
Project Overview
Coffee Lovers explores the potential of spent espresso grounds as a sustainable design material. As someone who drinks multiple espressos every day, I was constantly aware of how much coffee waste was being thrown away despite its natural deodrizing properties and pleasant aroma - something I'd grown up seeing my mother use around house.

Through material experimentation, I developed a recipe that stabilizes and extends the life of dried coffee grounds, revealing a wide range of possibilities.
My Contributions
I initiated the project from personal habits an observations, identifying coffee waste as an underutilized resource. I conducted hands-on material research - drying, binding, and forming coffee grounds into stable composites- while refining a recipe that preserves aroma and prevents mold.
Tools
Sustainable Design
Rhino + KeyShot
Materials
Coffee Grounds
Secret Recipe!
Top view of three white bowls on a wooden tray containing ground coffee, powdered creamer, and milk.White scalloped plate filled with dark brown coffee grounds on a woven mat surface.
Material
Simple Shapes
I air-dried 3 days' worth of espresso grounds and, using a recipe I developed through my own material exploration, formed them into basic prototype in the shape of diffuser.
Prototypes
Small Oil Diffuser
The coffee grounds I used were relatively coarse, giving the prototypes a naturally rugged and textured surface. Once cured, the material became far more solid than I expected, and it absorbed added oils remarkably well—holding the scent with surprising depth and longevity.
Close-up of a mound of ground coffee on a decorative rectangular glass dish on a dark surface near a window.Dark brown object resembling a dried seed or clump on a rectangular decorative dish with a vintage-style illustration of people on a ship deck and text 'American Line New York Southampton'.
Images
With an engraving of coffee grounds' origin
Two large coffee beans labeled Arabica and Kona placed on textured beige circular platforms.
Coffee portafilter with a wooden handle labeled 'Kenya AA 25.07.07' on a light beige background.
Top-down view of a coffee tamper with a wooden handle labeled 'Kenya AA 25.07.07' and a metallic base casting a shadow on a beige surface.
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