Settle an argument - purpose of a disposal

[Anonymous]

This is totally stupid but my DH and I keep arguing over it. I think your kitchen disposal is for scraping off and disposing of most remnants of food on your plates. He thinks remnants of meal prep and on plates should go in the garbage and the disposal is just too occasionally run to keep the pipes clean. Then he complains that if we don't take out the garbage every single day that it smells.

How do you use your disposal?

[Anonymous]

Moderate use. Food remnants go in but we will toss it into the garbage if we can. Are you the couple who was fighting over having one vs two bathmats or one vs no bathmats?

[Anonymous]

We run most peelings, egg shells, and food scrapings through the disposal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Moderate use. Food remnants go in but we will toss it into the garbage if we can. Are you the couple who was fighting over having one vs two bathmats or one vs no bathmats?

Not us, but I recognize that it's an equally lame disagreement! I suppose it's a sign of a good marriage if we can afford to fight over the small stuff because the big stuff is in pretty good order.

[Anonymous]

I scrape dinner remains into the trash. I use the disposal for anything that is stuck onto the dishes that we wash by hand (pots, serving dishes and utensils, etc.). We also have a composter, but if we didn't I'd put the "fresh" scraps into the disposal (except for stringy things).

[Anonymous]

I've posted this before:

A plumber once told me disposals are good for two things: Making money for the people that sell disposals and making money for plumbers.

Your DH is right. Scrape the plates over the garbage can and empty it. Anything you send down the pipes only goes a few feet before it gets stuck.

[Anonymous]

Big stuff from meal prep (celery tops, potatoes peels, etc) go in the trash. Wet messy stuff like plate scrapings and soggy cereal goes through the disposal. I also put orange peels through it for the nice smell.

The way I see it, your garbage disposal has a limited life. The more times you run it with heavier stuff, the shorter its lifespan.

[Anonymous]

I used to put virtually everything down the disposal. Seemed like it reduced garbage, used fewer bags, less smell. But then I learned how unenvironmental they are..first the water and electricity to run it, then more electricity to filter it out of the water during treatment, and then gasoline to truck the sludge to the landfill when it could have just as easily gone directly from my home. Now our disposal only gets scraps too small to pick up. Of course composting is best..

[Anonymous]

Most food bits go on the trash.

Your husband can only complain about the trash smell as he's taking it out, however.

[Anonymous]

1) Scrape plates over the garbage. Disposals are good for things like soups and any solids clinging to dishes after scraping. I didn't have a disposal when I lived abroad, but we still had to strain out solid stuff and throw it in the trash.

2) Of course garbage needs to be taken out daily!! Judgmental tone is intended... BUT... your DH is just the man for the job!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is totally stupid but my DH and I keep arguing over it. I think your kitchen disposal is for scraping off and disposing of most remnants of food on your plates. He thinks remnants of meal prep and on plates should go in the garbage and the disposal is just too occasionally run to keep the pipes clean. Then he complains that if we don't take out the garbage every single day that it smells.

How do you use your disposal?

I use mine every day for everything because that is what a garbage disposal is for so that you don't have to put garbage in the trash and avoid your kitchen smelling like a dump. I knew someone who only used her disposal for special meals, e.g., Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and on one of these occasions, it didn't work. The plumber told her that it was supposed to be used all the time.

[Anonymous]

is this a Southern thing? No self-respecting southern housewife would ever put food scraps in the garbage for fear of attracting roaches. My mother would throw a fit if she found food scraps in her garbage can.

Not sure why throwing food in plastic garbage bags would be more environmental than a disposal, but composting would be...

[Anonymous]

see 18:49 for how it is unenvironmental

[Anonymous]

Food scrap sludge from wastewater treatment plants doesn't go to the landfill; it's turned into fertilizer that's sold to farmers. Wastewater treatment fertilizer can be used for things like cattle feed or cotton, but it can't be used on crops that would be consumed by humans. So personally I think that's preferable to sending it to a landfill in a trash bag. Plus there's the whole bug/rodent issue when you have a ton of food in your trash.

[Anonymous]

Everything, except for larger pieces of vegetables and the like, should go into the disposal. All you crunchy nuts in the neighborhood are attracting rats because you are too cheap to actually use the trash can with a lid.

PS: If you insist on those smelly composting projects in your back yards, can you also please follow the directions properly and get all the food items covered by the right amounts and for the righ period of time? Your feel good project is attracting racoons, foxes, and oh yea, I saw some rats in your back yard this fall.