Some coffee shops bag up coffee grounds and put them out for customers. But, as reader Mike Ryan of Damascus points out, it's a hit-or-miss proposition. To assure a regular supply, Ryan approached the manager of a Tully's Coffee at his local Albertsons store, who agreed to save grounds for him.
Here's what he set up with the store

• He leaves a clean 5-gallon bucket with lid.
• They dump coffee grounds with filter in the bucket.
• He swaps out buckets several days a week. If he'll be on vacation, he leaves two buckets.
• "I thank them; they thank me," he says.
• At home, Ryan adds substantial amounts of coffee grounds, as well as hand-shredded filters, to his large compost pile, where the red worm population has multiplied exponentially.