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I generally only use the garbage disposer when I've just let out a sink full of water from doing dishes - which is going to go down the drain anyways. I used to use it more - but I had a garbage disposal break once while I was renting, and the maintenance guy there impressed upon me that the garbage disposal is for scraps - not potato peels.

Del
www.Delementals.com

We recently bought our first home, and I am delighted that the kitchen did not include a garbage disposal. I think they're creepy. Also, they break down, they smell, and they attract bugs. There are things you can do to mitigate those, but there's no mitigating the creepiness.

And, really, it's not that hard to wipe pans and dishes down (currently into the garbage, but into the composting system once we get one) before washing them. With that and a strainer over the drain, the pipes are pretty easy to keep clear with a combination of baking soda, salt, and vinegar.

I didn't grow up with one, and have always been a bit confused about their purpose. It is handy to be able to wash debris down the drain, but it isn't really that hard to use a strainer. I use a strainer over our current disposal to prevent things, like spoons, from falling down into it.

They seem very high maintenance for very little function.

Maybe it is a generality for Canada, but i have never seen one up here. When my sister moved to the US she got one with her house and we had endless conversations over what it was for and how to use it. She doesn't use it really, its just there.

No garbage disposal here. We're doing fine without one. We compost as much as we can.

Elizabeth
http://emblemorstain.blogspot.com/

Here's my minority opinion: I use it, I love it. Outdoor composting is not an option per my home association rules first of all. In my old house the disposal ran for eight years without breaking down. Sometimes it would smell up, but that was easily fixable with baking soda, vinegar, and warm water -- just a flush. Currently I don't need a ton of water or energy to get scraps and food down (I live in a Green Point-rated home).

I remember reading that a garbage disposal gives food waste a better chance of decomposing & going away than sitting in a landfill...

We do have a disposal and rarely use it now that we compost. I do like having it there, though. Katynonymous seems unnecessarily offended by them.

We never had one growing up in England (nor had I ever seen one there), and here in Chicago rental properties they're not very common.

I just don't see them as a necessity, but perhaps if you grew up using one it might seem more useful.

I agree with Hollie. I think garbage disposals are an American thing. I've never heard of them being used or installed in Canada, and I've never seen or experienced one myself. I really don't like the idea of them at all. They make no sense to me. If food waste does get into a landfill, it's going to decompose. It's food. It's not a plastic bag.

Same here. No garbage disposal (that we know of) in Canada. I like the old garbage bag recycling boxe under the sink!

I grew up with one and aside from one potato peel incident, we never had any problems (no smell, no bugs-- that means you're not running it enough). now I'd love to be able to compost, but it's not an option at my current apartment. and it's really indispensable with my roommates who don't seem to understand the concept that a drain can get clogged. however, I refuse to reach down into it if a utensil or something falls down there. I have irrational fears of it turning on by itself, so I make my boyfriend do it instead.

If I could compost I would but my patio is about the size of a postage stamp and I like to eat out there. I don't know how well decomposing organic matter would fit in with my vision of sunlit Sunday brunches.

I never grew up having one, but we have one now in our rental apartment, and I agree that it is a little creepy for me. I don't need it because I am used to scraping scraps into the garbage, and in my morbid mind I always imagine what would happen if my arm got stuck in there or something. Its funny cause I was just talking to my husband about that the other day and he thought I was crazy. Also, if we ever we get a house with a yard I would love to start composting my scraps.

I lived as a renter in SF for many years, and GDs used to be rare in San Francisco apartments. Then when I bought an old, old house, I never got around to putting a GD in. Little bits of food would get down the drain when we were washing dishes, and grease built up around that muck. We had plumbing problems in the main outflow pipe to the street, which was attributed to the lack of a garbage disposer. I now live where there is a septic system, so even though I have a GD, I can't use it for more than grinding up the small bits of food that get past the strainer. But I think it does help keep the pipes clear.

I've composted over the years, but I find that rodents always find their way into the bins. I've given up on the whole idea.

I've had a garbage disposal for ages and love it. I have a worm bin for some food waste, but any fats, oils, or meat remains can't be composted without other problems (rodents, smells, bacteria). In many locales, such as the Seattle area, it is illegal to compost any food containing meat, dairy, oils, or fats in a home compost bin. Having a handy way to dispose of stuff like that is nice. It keeps my trash from smelling. Raw chicken scraps start stinking up the kitchen just hours after being tossed in, never mind by the next morning. I could just toss the trash that night, but invariably it's a new bag and that feels like a complete waste. Besides, I believe that the sludge from the water treatment plant more easily decomposes.

Composting isn't an option in my apartment. If it were, I'd be all over it, but instead I use the garbage disposal. I run it while I wash dishes - the water's going down the drain anyway - and it cuts down on our trash output by a lot. In our last apartment, which didn't have a disposal, we threw out 3-4 bags per week, but here it's closer to 2. Most of our cooking is from scratch, all 3 meals & most snacks (I have 2 toddlers, there are a lot of snacks), so there is a lot of food waste. No problems with the smell, no bugs ever, and I know better than to put shavings or large batches of rice down the drain.

I have a garbage disposal but only use it rarely. I have a compost bucket next to the sink, and that's where most of my scraps end up.

To combat the smell issue, I stick a piece of lemon in the disposal every now and again.

people have lots to say about garbage disposals!

I lived without a garbage disposal for years now and I hate it. I've never been one for throwing anything more than a small scrap or two into the disposal anyway, but I'm fed up with having to dump a few grains of rice from the sink strainer into the garbage. What I wouldn't give to be able to just dump that into the sink. I'm also no fan of the slime that develops on the strainer within a mere couple of days.

I've never heard of a garbage disposal attracting bugs. We are on a septic system, so definitely avoid using ours for disposing of large amounts of food, but for all the little scraps that collect in the sink, I find it indispensable! Also, after nearly seven years, we've never had it break down.

I have one, but I don't use it that often. The one in my old apartment would break down constantly, so I got out of the habit. I do have a funny story about that old garbage disposal, though. One time I was doing a partial water change of my betta's tank. I guess the fish wasn't happy with what I was doing, because he jumped right out of the aquarium and right into the sink, sliding quickly down the garbage disposal. I screamed, reached down the garbage disposal, yanked him out, and threw him back in his tank. The little guy lived another two years.