Four Reasons Why Garbage Removal Is Terrible
In theory, garbage collection is a convenience. Not having to throw dishes in the trash like an animal may not seem like a big deal, but people who have them (about half of US homes have them) are very happy about it. There is also an environmental argument in their favor, related to the amount of methane produced from food waste in landfills, compared to treating that waste in properly equipped wastewater systems.
However, in practice, the benefits of trash removal go beyond convenience, and even these are much more limited than you might think, especially in the long term. In fact, junk removal may cause more problems than it solves , and you’ll probably be better off without it.
Garbage removal is a small matter
Yes, the biggest benefit of trash disposal is the time it saves: Instead of having to empty the dishes separately from the trash or compost, you simply scrape them into the sink, shred it all up, and move on with your day.
Except, of course, you need to be careful about what you put in your garbage disposal. Garbage disposal is very finicky, and there is a long list of things that should not be thrown there, including random items like eggshells and celery . Once you start listing all the things you should never throw down the garbage disposal , you’ll start to wonder how convenient they really are.
(If you don’t want to throw food scraps in the trash, forget about garbage collection and consider composting instead.)
Garbage removal requires constant maintenance.
Garbage disposals are not magical black holes where all your culinary and food sins disappear. In fact, these are quite delicate things that require constant care . They can and do jam on many occasions, such as when you stick a broom handle in your possession at midnight after a party, cursing the day you installed the damn thing. To ensure everything runs smoothly, a short list of things you should do regularly includes:
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Blade sharpening
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Cleaning your device
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Run and flush it regularly
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Deodorant
And this is only to maintain the functionality of the unit. And this maintenance is worth it, because if your disposal breaks, it will cost on average about $500-$600 to replace, and $100-$250 to repair.
Garbage disposal puts a strain on infrastructure
Depending on the age of your home’s plumbing and the condition of your local wastewater treatment system, garbage disposal can be a huge hassle. Our country’s wastewater treatment infrastructure is, generally speaking, not entirely reliable , which is why some municipalities ban garbage collection (in fact, they were banned in New York City until 1997 ). One plumbing expert’s description of the process of using your garbage disposal explains why they place such a large strain on both your home’s plumbing and your city’s resources:
Imagine a giant concrete truck filled with a mixture of sand, small stones and water. Lower the gutter and discharge this mixture into a 12-inch diameter city sewer. If you do not add a significant amount of clean water immediately after dumping sand and gravel into the sewer pipe, the pipe will begin to clog.
While some areas have wastewater systems capable of handling the “slurry” generated by garbage disposal, for many it is a constant strain on sewer and water treatment systems. And there’s another potential waste disposal problem: fatbergs .
As we throw food waste down the garbage disposal, grease and grease end up in the wastewater where it builds up like cholesterol in the arteries, forming clogs that eventually stop the flow of wastewater. Several years ago in Seattle, Washington, sewage backups were discovered in fatbergs and waste disposal was identified as one of the largest sources of the problem. Admittedly, this has a lot to do with people using their devices incorrectly, but it highlights how limited these devices really are.
Wastewater for garbage disposal
Lastly, wastewater disposal. They require water to operate effectively—after the waste is crushed, it must be flushed into pipes and then into the sewer system. Before you begin disposal, you should drain the water and allow it to drain approximately 30 seconds after grinding has finished.
Of course, that’s all water— 2 to 5 gallons each time you run the disposal. If you use the disposal once a day, that’s 14-35 gallons per week. We already waste about 95% of the water we use every day, and having a garbage disposal only makes this problem worse.