Save the earth while lighting your hearth.

That's the premise, anyway, behind a new line of fire logs that comes from the most unlikely of sources: coffee grounds.

These insects cause about $120 billion in damage, lost revenue, and prevention expenses every year. While the pine beetle is ravaging lodge pole pines out West, in the Midwest it’s the emerald ash borer, a half-inch long, metallic-green beetle that forest service officials say has killed more than 20 million ash trees in Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, and Ontario alone.

While bringing firewood into state and national parks is discouraged – and even banned in some states—and in-park firewood collection is often prohibited because downed wood is a necessary part of the eco-system, MountainPressWorld has researched a few companies offering solutions.Proving that shopping can be more eco-friendly than chopping, all-natural firelogs produce 80 percent fewer emissions (ash, dust, creosote, & carbon monoxide) than wood and are bug free. The Java-Log (www.java-log.com) is the first and only firelog made with recycled spent coffee grounds and all-natural wax, both 100 percent renewable resources. The Java-Log also diverts more than 20 million pounds of coffee waste each year that would otherwise end up in our landfills.

Another option is the Pine Mountain firelog (www.pinemountainbrands.com), made from 100 percent renewable resources, including recycled sawdust and all-natural wax. Both products are also longer-burning than firewood (2-3 hours per log) and require no kindling or stoking (simply light the paper wrapper). They cost $2-3 per log or can be purchased in cases.