Garbage Disposal

[Stock Pot]

I know all the Internet advice- no pasta, no rice, no kale, no eggshells, no chicken bones, etc.

Except.... except I have always put those things down every disposal I have ever had and never clogged it or the drain. Mostly small amounts, like a half cup of cooked rice and so forth. Chicken bones? It eats them up like nothing. I think anything left in the drain gets washed away when the dishwasher runs anyway.

So, I am looking for real life anecdotes. Have you ever clogged your disposal and, if so , what were the circumstances?

I have a similar question about septic tanks with disposals. Same cautious advice from the "experts", i.e. no way. But my parents always had both and never had a problem. I consulted with my septic service guy and he agreed that with just two of us living in a three bedroom house, annual inspection of the tank, etc. it could handle it. He also recommended putting a bottle of enzymes down the drain every couple of months, so I am doing that.

 

[roadfix]

Rarely have GD problems......and we dump just about everything down the GD.

 

[Andy M.]

My GD has a problem with brown onion skins and banana peels so I toss them in the trash. I don't put chicken bones in, they go in the freezer for stock.

It's very effective to toss in and process a double handful of ice cubes to clear any gummed up residue.

 

[Addie]

Same here. I live in a large converted school building with 42 apartments. They all have a garbage disposal. Some tenants are afraid of theirs. Old age brings some strange fears on.

I too put everything down mine except for chicken bones. And although everyone says you should never put your hand down their, mine is small enough to fit easily. When it is off of course. I had to purchase a small strainer that fits right on top. My cutlery kept falling into it. So in goes my hand to retrieve it.

If I had my druthers, I would take a dishwasher any day over the garbage disposal though.

 

[GotGarlic]

Mine doesn't like large amounts of greens. My poultry bones also go in the freezer for stock.

Can't wait till DH rebuilds the composter so my kitchen scraps can go out there and then back into the garden again.

 

[Katie H]

Haven't had a garbage disposal for almost 30 years and don't miss it. Eggshells are saved for the garden, as are coffee grounds and tea leaves. Vegetable and fruit matter hits the compost pile and our brown-eyed lunatic named Harley takes care of bones that aren't set aside for stocks. I think that just about takes care of it for us.

I've noticed over the last few years that, as we've included recycling (on our own) paper, glass and plastic goods, there's next to nothing in the kitchen trash can. It's a standard 13-gallon one and gets emptied once a month. Sometimes it's not even full then. There's never any odor because nothing goes in that would cause any, um, fragrance.

In fact, Glenn commented the other day that our recycling trash can outside smells nice. Guess that's from the occasional empty fabric softener bottle. I'm a bit anal about the recycling container and wash everything out well before putting in the container.

 

[bethzaring]

I have successfully avoided having any GD installed in my homes. I do have experience with septic systems though. My reason for avoiding GD's was my last homestead had its own water system (a spring development) and septic system. That meant when anything went wrong, we were responsible for fixing it. I did everything in my power to reduce potential problems. The septic system was an aerator system. The aerator pumps were expensive so you did not want to put anything in the system that could damage the pump. They failed readily enough anyway. Chicken bones may not be a problem with a leach field septic system. Regarding the enzymes, that is a good idea. But since I made yeast bread on a regular basis, my septic man said the stray yeast that made it down the sink drain had the same beneficial effect, so I did not need to add any enzymes.

 

[dragnlaw]

It was my understanding the reason for certain things not going down the disposal, was not for clogging at your end, but for city dwellers whose sewage goes to the city sewage works plant. It doubled their solids load and making it difficult for them to break it down. Most were originally built to only handle toilet sewage. The rules came from the towns!

If you have a "healthy" septic you really don't need to put in enzymes that often. If you want to do it once a year should be good, 2 times max.

My recycle bin is like yours Katie - I wash all tins, etc that go into it. That comes from living in the country before recycling started, you didn't need or want to attract the wildlife.

 

[Katie H]

My recycle bin is like yours Katie - I wash all tins, etc that go into it. That comes from living in the country before recycling started, you didn't need or want to attract the wildlife.

Exactly. We live out in the middle of nowhere on heavily wooded property. Our fellow citizens include, but are not limited to, deer, racoon, coyotes, wildcats. We are careful not to leave anything the least inviting for their pleasure. This year, the deer had a running party in our vegetable garden. Oh, well!

 

[RPCookin]

The one thing I've known to clog a disposal drain is potato peels. I never put them down the disposal any more. We don't do compost because we don't garden, so our peels go in the trash now.

 

[Kayelle]

Christmas morning........as a new young bride with peels from 10 lbs of potatoes in the disposer was an expensive hard lesson learned.

That was the first and last time.

 

[Addie]

It was my understanding the reason for certain things not going down the disposal, was not for clogging at your end, but for city dwellers whose sewage goes to the city sewage works plant. It doubled their solids load and making it difficult for them to break it down. Most were originally built to only handle toilet sewage. The rules came from the towns!

If you have a "healthy" septic you really don't need to put in enzymes that often. If you want to do it once a year should be good, 2 times max.

My recycle bin is like yours Katie - I wash all tins, etc that go into it. That comes from living in the country before recycling started, you didn't need or want to attract the wildlife.

Fortunately for Bostonians, when they were doing the big dig, they also built a whole new system out at Deer Island for treating ALL the waste material in Boston that goes in our drains. At the end the water is pure enough to drink and any solids are turned into compost. Every spring, gardeners to there to get a free bag of it for their gardens.

On the sidewalks in front of every sewer is a sign that asks people to "not pour anything down the sewer. All our sewer waste goes into the ocean." No longer true. It goes to Deer Island first. But most folks know that.

 

[Addie]

The one thing I've known to clog a disposal drain is potato peels. I never put them down the disposal any more. We don't do compost because we don't garden, so our peels go in the trash now.

Because I live in a building with 41 other people, I don't put food in my trash. It takes more than one day to fill up one of my baskets. And to leave food peelings in them on a day to day basis is just asking for an odor to develop. And the trash room is quite a way from my apartment.

 

[dragnlaw]

Addie

On the sidewalks in front of every sewer is a sign that asks people to "not pour anything down the sewer. All our sewer waste goes into the ocean." No longer true. It goes to Deer Island first. But most folks know that.

Most times, when a town posts a sign like that it is because people (actually better known as jerks) have been dumping gas, oils or some other dire liquid into the storm drains because they are too lazy to dispose of properly.

 

[CraigC]

Ever freshen your GD's breath by dropping in lemon or lime halves that the juice has been squeezed out of?

 

[roadfix]

Ever freshen your GD's breath by dropping in lemon or lime halves that the juice has been squeezed out of?

We do this frequently.

 

[Stock Pot]

Thanks, everyone.

Great input, everyone. Thanks.

Well, I've decided to push the envelope with what I put down the disposal. I'll be careful with potato peels, for sure.

For you composters out there, I have another critter that makes me wary of that. Bears. We had one on our back deck, right behind the sliding glass doors a couple of months ago. He decided our hummingbird feeders were of no interest and moved on, but, talking to my neighbors, bears are pretty common around here. So no composting and no outside BBQ for me (bears love BBQ's).

 

[jennyema]

For me it's not the disposal, it will eat anything

It's my pipes. They are old and stuff like rice and fibrous crap stuff it up.

And yes,sadly, I have firsthand experience with this $$$$

 

[Steve Kroll]

My last house had a 1 horsepower disposal that would eat pretty much anything you put down it.

The only thing that ever managed to clog it was rutabaga peelings that had some of that waxy coating they put on to preserve them. And no amount of hot water would wash it away. It just turned gummy and stuck to the rotors.

 

[jabbur]

I tried broccoli stems after trimming the florets off for a salad. While it didn't really clog the GD, They never really got chewed up. Just got stringy and wrapped around the rotors. Had to get my hand in there to remove it all. So no broccoli for me. I don't put chicken bones down mine but just about everything else goes. I even put potato peels but it's usually only a few potatoes like 3 or 4 and not like 10 lbs.