I read recently that
disposals are evil. Not only do they discourage composting, but they use water (precious here in California) to flush solids to the water treatment plant where they then need to be trucked to a landfill, encourage blocked pipes along the way, and use a bit of electricity to boot. I had no idea they were so bad. InSinkErator responds that
they're not evil, and in fact are better environmentally. Given the choice between chucking food in a disposal and throwing it in the garbage, maybe, but composting is the way to go.
evil?
We didn't use our disposal much since we compost, and after removing it, it's a good thing. As I was cutting the drain pipes, it fell away. Apparently it had been held in place primarily by the drain pipes, the top having rotted away to nothing. That along with the lower cabinets which were rotting away, between being cheap-ass particle board and having the occasional influx of moisture (rusted out drainpipe and original dishwasher, I'm looking at
you). So besides the kitchen sink, there wasn't a whole lot to salvage out of the kitchen demolition.
Instead of getting to the vinyl flooring, I made a dump run and got some new subflooring material and some 2x4s to rebuild the wall where the old window had been. Ripping up the vinyl flooring and replacing some of the subflooring is on today's list.
3 comments:
For years I have been trying to figure out a way to use the disposer to grind up the organics, and then use them for compost. Any ideas?
I don't know that you need to. A decently running compost pile (not ours; we have too much wet food and not enough dry yard clippings) will decompose food pretty quickly in its own right.
If you want to simplify the process, the Treehugger article suggested the NatureMill under-sink composter. I don't have any personal experience with it, but it sounds like a great idea for urban dwellers or those like us with not enough dry stuff to add to the mix.
Yeah, it's more the idea of chopping everything from soup to nuts into tiny pieces that's attractive. I've run compost piles/heaps (some of which had to be turned with a tractor), and I find that getting everything small really makes a difference to the smell, if nothing else.
Pretty quickly is in the nose of the beholder, AFAIAC. We've got enough green and brown to work with most of the food, but I'd like to simplify/shorten the process if I can.
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