At Haifa University, coffee will be used as an organic fertilizer for growing plants

A research bed with 17 kg of coffee waste is already ready on the roof and now the researchers are waiting to see what will grow there

Is coffee good for your plants? Haifa University intends to answer this question. Researchers at the Keds Center for the Ecology of Green Roofs in collaboration with the Student Union and Green Campus have begun using the waste from the coffee machines to fertilize a research bed, in which different species of plants will be planted. The purpose of the research is to examine not only whether the coffee can form part of a suitable substrate for growing plants, but whether it will be better than the normal substrate and allow improved growth for the plants. "In our research center, there are several studies examining how the quality of the substrate and the composition of the plants will be the most suitable for the use of green roofs even without maintenance. Using the coffee waste may improve the mineral economy in the soil and consequently also the growth of plants on the roof." said Dr. Shay Levy, director of the center.

The use of organic waste as a substrate for ecological growth is already known in the world, but despite the prevalence of used coffee (which comes from the various espresso machines), to date its effectiveness as a fertilizer on green roofs has not been tested. The person who thought of the idea is Prof. Shi Lin, Dean of the Faculty of Welfare and Health Sciences and a member of the University's Green Campus Council. The combination between the research center and the study of green roofs, led by Prof. Leon Blaustein, whose goal is to test whether it is possible to benefit the environment through crops on the roofs of buildings, and coffee waste, says Dr. Shai Levy, director of the research center, is only natural.

For the purpose of the current study, the student union "donated" 17 kg of coffee waste from the coffee shop it operates, "Kaffe Agada", which was mixed with the substrate mixture that has been used to this day in the research beds. In the flower bed, a beautiful carmelita, an egg-shaped rabbit's tail was sown and geophytes such as sedge, daffodils and even herbs were planted: common moss (zaatar), sage and white sedum. The rains that are already falling will answer the question in the near future - how good is the coffee for the plants on the roof.

"This is a great way to turn waste into a resource. We don't lack coffee waste, on the contrary, we have more than enough of it. If we manage to show that coffee improves the growth of plants, it could be a great, ecological and economical solution for us and the environment", said Dr. Levy.