Composting and Environmentally Friendly Disposals
Ways to Positively Impact the Ecosystem
Introduction
Putting food down the disposal and composting are both excellent ways to reduce your carbon footprint. We know that doing either one of these actions is better for the environment than simply throwing food in the garbage. We are going to tell you what the difference is between composting, using your waste disposal, and throwing scraps in the trash.
Foods that Could Be Damaging the Ecosystem
When food gets placed in the garbage, it is sent to landfills and incinerated. Burning your trash and food causes harmful emissions. Food scraps in landfills decompose very quickly, which produces methane. Methane is a greenhouse gas that is at least 20-30 times more potent in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. Along with this, methane causes an acidic liquid residue, called leachate, that can seep into groundwater.
Did you know that one quarter of man-made greenhouse gas emissions are from food waste? To put this into perspective, that means that if food waste itself was a country, it would be ranked third after the USA and China for greenhouse gas production. Learning about environmentally friendly ways to rid your house of food waste is important for our planet. At Pride Plumbing of Rochester, we want to have a positive impact on our customers and our community. Being mindful about the practices we use does not only impact Monroe County and Rochester, but it creates a ripple effect throughout other communities. Do you want to know how we are currently involved in our community? Click here! Below, we will talk about the different methods to rid your house of food and how it affects the environment.
Composting
What is compost? It’s the natural process of recycling organic materials. Anything that decomposes over time can be composted. When all of the material decomposes together, it ends up looking like soil that you can use!
It is hands down the best way to get rid of food waste. It can help enrich the soil, retain moisture, increase drought resistance, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, recycle nutrients, and suppress plant diseases and pests. Doing so significantly reduces methane emissions and it reduces the need for chemical fertilizers. When items are composted and added to soil, it can filter out 60-95% of urban stormwater pollutants. This is possible because it acts as a sponge. The soil that is produced can hold 5x its weight in water.
Every year, U.S. landfills and trash incinerators receive 167 million tons of garbage. More than 50% of the garbage set at the curb is compostable. Are you wondering how you can compost to make a difference? Learn about that below!
Monroe County Composting
There’s a few ways that you can compost, and there’s even a Rochester specific way as well!
Home Composting - Outdoor Composting:
If you have room in your yard, you would need to use an area about 3 X 3 X 3, and start a scrap pile directly on the ground. The best place is somewhere dry and shady.
There are important things to consider when doing this, such as having an opened or closed bin, if you have room in your yard, and if you have a good shady spot.
Home Composting - Indoor Composting:
Do you not have room outside? You can do indoor composting!
The best types of bins are lidded plastic storage containers, garbage cans, or wooden crates. 18-gallon containers are generally a good size for 2-4 people and 5- to 10-gallon containers are good for 1-2 people.
Don’t want to compost in your own home?
Monroe County has a residential food composting service, called Impact Earth. Impact Earth will give you a bin and you can choose from curbside service or market service.
With curbside service, individuals from Impact Earth will pick up your bin weekly or bi-weekly, depending on the service you want to subscribe to.
For market service, individuals can take their bins to the Rochester Public Market, the Fairport Farmers Market, the Brighton Farmers Market, Lori’s Natural Foods Center, Abundance Food Co-Op, or #Hydro Inc. to swap your bucket out. Starting June 2nd, you can also take your scraps to the Garden District Farmers Market and starting July 10th, the Pittsford Village Farmers Market.
What to Compost
Now that you know the various things you can recycle into soil, we’re going to go over what you can and can’t put in!
Don’ts:
Meat, fish, eggs, dairy products, and poultry scraps
Will cause odor problems, bugs, and rodents.
Fats, grease, lard, and oils
These substances will also cause odor problems and possibly pests.
Coal or charcoal ash
They could contain products that are harmful to plants.
Black walnut tree leaves or twigs
They could also be harmful to plants.
Diseased or insect-ridden plants
Diseases and insects can be transferred to other plants.
Pet feces or litter
Could contain parasites, bacteria, germs, pathogens, and viruses.
Grass clippings and yard trimmings treated with chemical pesticides
Could kill beneficial organisms.
Do’s:
Small pieces of uncoated cardboard, cereal boxes, brown paper bags
Small pieces of uncoated paper, shredded newspaper
Paper towels
Coffee grounds and filters
Tea bags
Cotton and wool rags
Dryer and vacuum cleaner lint
Eggshells
Nutshells
Fireplace ashes from natural wood
Fruits and vegetables
Grass clippings and yard trimmings
Hair and fur
Hay and straw
Houseplants
Leaves
Wood chips, sawdust, toothpicks, burnt matches
Garbage Disposals
Although we know composting is the best way to get rid of food, using your food disposal is the next best way!
First, you need to know what you can and can’t throw down the disposal. To find out, read our “Garbage Disposal Tips and Tricks” blog! If you’re unsure what cannot go in your waste disposal but can be composted, our “Leftovers You Can Compost Instead of Putting Down the Garbage Disposal” blog tells you the what and why. Hear from our own licensed professional plumber, Eddie, about what the top 5 garbage disposal benefits are (environmentally friendly is #1!).
When you put scraps in your food disposal, it grinds them up into little pieces and is sent to a wastewater treatment facility. As it treats the water that arrives, it captures the methane gas, which is then converted into electricity or biofuels.
If 30,000 households switched from disposing food in their garbage to using waste disposals, the reduction in global warming potential could be equal to saving 4.6 million miles driven in the average American car. That is a lot of miles, which means it is a lot of energy saved! Along with this, after the food is disposed of, it decomposes at a much faster rate than food in its normal form. Due to constantly using your food disposal, you need to make sure you’re properly taking care of it. Learn about cleaning and maintenance here!
Top 3 Myths
Using a waste disposal uses mass amounts of water and electricity.
Although it takes electricity and water to run a disposal, they use about 1% or less of a household’s total water consumption. This is about flushing the toilet once per day!
Another fun fact is that the electricity that a waste disposal uses is about equal to less than 50 cents a year.
2. Using the disposal puts excess strain on wastewater treatment centers.
Almost all of the centers are designed to handle your food scraps. Anyway, about 70% of food scraps are water!
3. Compost smells bad and is too complicated.
If you put items that do not belong, such as dairy, meat or eggs, then it will smell. But, it is very easy to keep odor free! There are many online guides to understand how to successfully keep it from smelling.
It’s easy! The organic material that you put in your bin wants to break down and decompose.
Conclusion
Pride Plumbing cares about the environment, our community, and our customers. Are you interested in becoming more environmentally friendly? Call us at 585-271-7150 or fill out our online form and ask us about the different food disposal options we have. If you’re a visual learner, check out our YouTube video, “Which Insinkerator Garbage Disposal is Best for You?”. Eddie goes through each model and describes what they do and what homes they are typically best for. We look forward to hearing from you!
