Comments
10 CommentsMy grandmother always did, but my mother didn't as we had a garbage disposal in the sink, so everything went down the drain. Where I live now, there are two alternatives: composting your own organic waste in the yard, or piling it into a can and having it picked up twice monthly just like the trash and recycling waste.
Frankly, I miss my garbage disposal. I've never seen one in Germany, and that doesn't mean there aren't any, but I don't have one. My landlord lives next door, and he composts and controls the trash and such, so perforce we compost too. Not that we do anything with any of it ourselves except put the stuff out on the pile, but he uses it in his garden and around the yard, and just throwing the organics in the trash bin is a big no-no.
I just don't like dealing with it. The pile is out in the back of the yard, so rather than make umpty trips per day, we use a can in the kitchen and empty when necessary. But what I really want is to have my trash either in the trash bin or down the drain, not in a can in the kitchen that always needs to go out.
So how is organic waste handled in other parts of the world? I only have experience from Las Vegas where I grew up with garbage disposals as standard appliances in the kitchen, or here in Germany where I don't have a choice, so I wonder how it is in other places. And if you'd care to share views and information about the pros and cons of using a garbage disposal and dumping organic waste down the drain, that would be great too.
P.S. Didn't know whether this should be in Food or Science...
cdevroe
Written Oct. 12, 2007 / Report /
I wish that Eliza and I did. My parents and grandparents did - and it has always been a goal of mine. At the moment we live in an apartment - and so that makes it challenging.
Nuthatch
Written Oct. 13, 2007 / Report /
Just a reminder that even organic matter like grass clippings can take years to degrade in a municipal landfill -- you put stuff in a plastic bag, it gets tossed in with other bags, buried under a layer of clay and soil, no oxygen. Throwing away food scraps is just like throwing away plastic as far as landfill space goes.
JoeLencioni
Written Oct. 13, 2007 / Report /
I started composting this year and it has been great. I read a couple of books on it and got a stainless steel pail for my kitchen. It really doesn't make sense to not compost--and there are even ways to do it in your apartment that aren't stinky if you're not afraid of worms.
winnopeg
Written Oct. 13, 2007 / Report /
My family tried it at one point, but it never really caught on. So no, I don't.
dreamweaver
Written Oct. 13, 2007 / Report /
Well, I'd have to say no to the worms in the house I'm afraid. Interesting method, though.
I do see how bad it is to just put the waste in the trash, but I'd still rather have a garbage disposal!
missginsu
Written Oct. 13, 2007 / Report /
When I was growing up, my dad and I had a plastic bucket beside the back door that got all the vegetable scraps and we frequently took it out to the compost heap beside the garden in the back yard. I think we called it Mikey because there was a commercial for Life cereal in which a little boy named Mikey would eat anything. I have some vague memory of that.
But later on, we had rabbits, and rabbits do a stellar job of composting in a hurry, so they got a lot of our vegetable scraps. I always miss the rabbits when I have excess carrot greens or ends of celery stalks...
I'm in an apartment now, so there's no space for rabbits or composting. I like the worms idea, though. Earthworms are awesome.
Cappuccino
Written Oct. 13, 2007 / Report /
We had a compost heap growing up, my parents swore by it for the garden. Grass clippers made up most of it if I recall. If I ever get into gardening like I would like to, I will do it for sure.
bgilham
Written Oct. 13, 2007 / Report /
My parents keep a giant compost heap in the backyard and use it regularly in their gardens. It's great. I compost as well, but on a much smaller scale. The municipality here provides every household with a small green bin for compost materials and takes it away every two weeks. It's great, because it encourages everyone to help out.
auburn
Written Oct. 26, 2007 / Report /
For years, I read about making compost. I garden on my acre of land in upstate NY so it only seemed natural because I don't do the 'chemical thing'. I finally bought and put together one of those large bins with a handle you turn daily. I put coffee grounds, leaves, egg shells and vegetable peelings in it. It is located far away from the house. Sometimes I forget to turn it, especially in the winter when I walk quite a ways to find it and in 35 degrees below zero weather, it is not #1 priority for me! It seems to take a very long time to decompose but I know there are products I can buy that speed up the process.
Esherido
Written Oct. 28, 2007 / Report /
We have a medium size black compost container that we use; so I guess my answer is yes. I compost the natural way, no additives!
It's definitely a pain to empty out the composted stuff. I gag for about an hour afterwards.