Ideal Bite

Thankfully in the country we have more options for garbage disposal (and no there is none in my kitchen sink). 1st is the compost collector, along with the regular recycling containers. Except for chicken/pork bones, etc. what food stuffs are not deemed desirable for the dogs/cat were relegated to the pigs. Now that the pigs are in the freezer, the chickens (that lay, not in freezer) get all the "treats". Chickens like pigs are not fussy eaters. Free range (except during gardening season!)with benefits :)

I whole heartedly agree that composting is best, However I have read counter arguments to your suggestion not to use the disposal for food waste. It seems to be generally accepted (and is commonly claimed) that organic material decomposes very slowly in landfills. Waste treatment centers are designed to break down organic material and so do a much better (faster) job of processing food waste and returning it to the ecosystem. That the addition of food to waste treatment may lead to more algae blooms etc... seems far fetched. Waste treatment discharge concentrated in one area can certainly be disruptive, but claiming a small addition of food waste to this stream will cause additional environmental effects is not prima facia. The goal of composting is to return organic material to the ecosystem. This happens much more readily via waste treatment than 20 feet underground in a land fill.

In Ocean County, NJ all of our wastwater/sewage is recycled and made into organic fertilizer so garbage disposals are a great option to composting. I do both tending to compost more in the summer & use the disposal more in the winter. The fertilizer is called Oceangro(c) http://www.ocua.com/Oceangro.htm

polnut when suggesting composting as the best alternative to a disposal, remember that many food items are not compostable. that includes raw meat and fish, bones, fat and cooked table scraps. even so, recycling paper, plastic,metal, chipboard, corrugated (lucky to live in Monroe County in western NY) and composting anything I can results in a total of about a half a paper grocery bag PER WEEK of trash (plus the cat litter).

I compost. The squirrels in the neighborhood love it! Seriously, my biggest issue is trying to convince other people (especially my family) to compost. It is so easy to save it in a container and throw it out in the pile. I don't understand why so many people can't do it.

Vermicomposting (a worm bin) in every kitchen would allow anyone from apartment-dwellers to out-in-the-country types to compost the vast majority of their food scraps. Worms are quiet, shy, industrious and make the richest compost there is. If you remove your garbage disposal (our 105+ year-old house has never had one) you'd have a perfect spot under the sink for a worm bin!

I was challenged with food scraps, I sold my home and live in an apartment, so I can not set up a compost bin (no yard). I started a wormery, and the worms break down all my food scraps and paper scraps, and then I give the liquid and compost material to my mother for her gardens. The worms are in a small box, little larger than a shoe box, and are in a cabinet on a bottom shelf. they take up very little space, do not smell, and are somewhat fun to watch. I was proud the other day I checked on them, and there were babies - I am a proud Worm Mommy. When I tell people I have a wormery, they say ewww gross - but when they see how easy it is, they change their mind and want one too. So get some worms if you can not compost outdoors - you will love it!

Composting IS a wonderful thing, but be aware that if you use ANY animals products at all, it will smell horrible. Fine if you have a compost in the back yard and you don't breathe deeply while turning it, but if you use one of those neat things so you can do it in your apartment- it will be overbearing.

I live in the mountains of Colorado now, but even when I lived in town, I put a lot of my food scraps in the bird feeder. Many birds like it and the squirrels love it too. If no one eats it within a couple of days, I go out and pick up what's left and put it in the garbage bag. Here most of it goes quickly. The deer even eat the orange and grapefruit rinds. Nobody seems to like banana peels, not even the ground squirrels.

We keep a "to-go" container in the freezer and scrape all of our plates into it after meals. When the containers are full, we pass them along to our friends who keep chickens. It's amazing how even a few spoonfuls leftovers add up in no time to a full container.