They were illegal where I lived in North NJ. I love my garbage disposal now in VA.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people grind things down the disposal? I never encountered one till I came to the US, so I’ve always been curious. I have a disposal because it was already there, but I use a sink strainer instead.

Better for the environment and less rotting food smell in the trash.

But terrible for your pipes!!

Don’t grind onion skins, celery, or egg shells. Don’t buy one with a tiny motor or a cheap brand. You’ll be completely fine.

I’ve used one daily for 20 years with zero plumbing problems… I had one fail and had to replace it, but the failure rate is way less than my other appliances. Would not be without one. I just don’t love fishing chunks of food out of the sink.

One of the first things that we do every time we buy a new house is replace the disposal with a 1hp model. You can put a chicken or a plate of rib bones down the sink and not have to worry.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people grind things down the disposal? I never encountered one till I came to the US, so I’ve always been curious. I have a disposal because it was already there, but I use a sink strainer instead.

Better for the environment and less rotting food smell in the trash.

But terrible for your pipes!!

Is cooking, eating, and washing dishes outdated?

What a ridiculous question. Since the inception of literally anything, please have been known to misuse the products.

People shoot up heroin. Does that make needles outdated?

Are front doors outdated?

Why in the world would anyone think they are outdated? It's standard feature in most houses and in all new builds.

I took my garbage disposal out because it was causing more problems and solving. We never really used it anyway so it was causing a lot of problems. We have always just tossed or scraps into the trash.

Didn't have one when I lived in Japan -- hated it. Would not rent a place without one in the US; small scraps just end up in my sink and and I don't have a good way to get absolutely every single tea leaf out of the strainer and into the compost without running water through. Get back to me when we have compostable bags to catch food in the drain well.

I am very careful about what goes in the disposal - usually small scraps like eggshells and whatever small bits of food are left on the plate - small though. I also never ever put grease or oil down there.

All that said I cannot imagine not having one.

I grew up in NYC. Since moving to VA I have had them in 3 homes and never used them. Just wasn't a habit. When we renovated my latest kitchen I removed it. If someone wants to add it when we sell, the plumbing and electrical is there.

Because I don't want to pick up that soggy nasty strainer full of disgusting food particles and empty it into the trash. SOME food still always finds it's way into the sink and it's just nasty.

We compost most of our scraps, so I am not throwing a TON of stuff down there. But it's certainly nice for say, the bowl of cheerios my son didn't quite finish, or rinsing the rice off the plates before putting them in the dishwasher.

I have had one in my house for 10 years and never had an issue with where I needed a plumber.

We have one that can grind bone it costed more

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are no longer illegal in NYC. That was a relic of an old wastewater treatment issue. They are an environmentally friendly way of disposing of food waste, especially if you can’t compost. If you put food waste in trash it releases a lot of methane. A disposer mitigates that.

You got a cite for that? Solids get pulled out of the wastewater at the sewage treatment plant, and go to a landfill.

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Lifestyle/wireStory/kitchen-sink-disposal-environmentally-friendly-61853820

Money quote: "Disposals make sense if your wastewater system is set up to convert food waste into energy, as is the case in a growing number of big cities." I agree with the first part of that sentence, the second seems to be wishful thinking.

The only "expert" quoted in the article who thinks they're good for the environment is "Joe Dillon, president of Racine, Wisconsin-based InSinkErator." Ok.

We compost now but I’ll always have a disposal in all kitchen/similar sinks. We have 4 in our current house.