Grab and grow: How your Crissy Mocha helps Crissy Field native plants thrive

If you've grabbed a delicious Crissy Mocha at the Warming Hut Park Store recently, your coffee also perked up native plants in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area! Thanks to a collaboration between staff from the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy and National Park Service (NPS), used coffee grounds from every cup sold at the Warming Hut are helping nourish the nearby ecosystem. 

It all started on Earth Day 2025, when volunteers planted over 100 native beach strawberry plants near the West Bluff Picnic Area at Crissy Field. These hearty, drought-tolerant plants thrive in sandy soils and support local wildlife, making them perfect for the coastal ecosystem and habitat restoration. 

NPS Zone Steward Alan Fritzinger, above left, who led the planting project, identified that coffee grounds offer a natural fertilizer rich in nitrogen. The Parks Conservancy's Warming Hut team jumped at the chance to divert their used grounds from landfill to landscape. Today, park visitors "donate" an average of five buckets of nutrient-rich compost each week, simply by enjoying a cup of coffee. 

Feeling inspired toward sustainability? You can use your own coffee grounds at home to fertilize acid-loving plants like azaleas, blueberries, and strawberries. Just sprinkle them lightly around the base of the plant or add them to your compost pile. 

So next time you visit the Warming Hut, sip a Crissy Mocha, and take a trip to see the thriving strawberry beds along the West Bluff berms. It's a simple, sustainable way to enjoy your national parks and give back, one cup at a time.