In a move that had many residents bewildered, the Raleigh, North Carolina, city council voted to ban garbage disposals in all new construction and to prohibit residents from replacing broken garbage disposals. The ordinance, which took effect this week, has its roots in over 100 large sewage spillovers in the last three years within the city of Raleigh. The cost of such cleanups and the threatened fines from state agencies forced the council to implement the ban. What’s the connection between garbage disposals and sewage spillovers? Grease. The city’s sewage system builds up with grease until the pipes need to be cleaned out with a special truck - or a spillover occurs. Reduce the amount of food and grease going down kitchen sinks, so the Raleigh city council believes, and you reduce the costly cleanups.
Though Raleigh mayor Charles Meeker claims that garbage disposals waste about 500,000 gallons of water a day, the environmental effects of garbage disposals have been studied and debated for decades, due much in part to New York’s twenty year ban on garbage disposals, which was lifted in 1997. Garbage disposals are rare in Europe because of their alleged negative impact on water treatment plants. Proponents of garbage disposals say they divert the impact of garbage from landfills and incinerators, and a study done by the University of Wisconsin concluded that disposing of food waste through a garbage disposal is more environmentally friendly than throwing it in the garbage. InSinkErator, who sells the majority of garbage disposals across the country, used such studies to push New York officials to drop their ban and hope to do the same in North Carolina.
So many factors go into the green-ness of garbage disposals that it’s hard to determine if they are helping or harming the environment. They use water and power. They make it easy for people to throw things down the drain that they shouldn’t. And does all that ground up food really affect water treatment plants? Do they really help cut down on landfills? Are the bacteria in the food better off down the drain than in the landfills, as the Wisconsin study claims? All these factors weave into a green gordian knot that can be easily cut through one practice: composting.
The Raleigh city council has probably already achieved its goal in implementing this ban, getting residents to think about what they throw down their drains. Perhaps the next step, if residents succeed in overturning the ban, is consumer awareness of the benefits of composting. If the city is truly concerned about the water usage of garbage disposals, and residents are truly concerned about landfills, then a community composting plan should be put into effect, much like the one currently in place in Brooklyn. Urban composting bins are becoming more popular, with city-dwellers using them in community gardens if they don’t have their own. Click here for a link to a DIY urban composting bin article.
Please give us your thoughts on the garbage disposal ban and perhaps what steps you think the city council should take to fix their sewage issues.
I think not using a garbage disposal can be much better for the environment if all that food garbage could be used in compost piles. Then it wouldn’t go into the sewer or the landfills. Raleigh could suggest that people make personal compost piles, community ones, or even the city could somehow pick that garbage up separately. The city could even make some money off of it by then selling the soil made from the decomposed garbage.
I think not using a garbage disposal can be much better for the environment if all that food garbage could be used in compost piles. Then it wouldn’t go into the sewer or the landfills. Raleigh could suggest that people make personal compost piles, community ones, or even the city could somehow pick that garbage up separately. The city could even make some money off of it by then selling the soil made from the decomposed garbage.
It is now time for everyone to take on board individual responsabilities for recycling. The company I work for have recently brought out a range of recycling bins. The Bins are part of a recycling station consisting of a bin for Glass / Paper / Plastic and Cans. In addition to this there are also bins for printer Toner cartridges and Ink Jet cartridges. The range can be bought on line at http://www.impbins.com
It is now time for everyone to take on board individual responsabilities for recycling. The company I work for have recently brought out a range of recycling bins. The Bins are part of a recycling station consisting of a bin for Glass / Paper / Plastic and Cans. In addition to this there are also bins for printer Toner cartridges and Ink Jet cartridges. The range can be bought on line at http://www.impbins.com
I have been visiting California on holiday and was facinated with the concept of a garbage disposal! It certainly is convenient, but I looked up on line to see if it really is environmentally friendly…I live in Canada, where, similar to what Shannon said above, we have, in addition to a blue box recycling we also have a a “green box” that the city picks up on “garbage day” all compost food waste and wet paper towels etc go in there and are sent to the main city dump where it is converted into compost and then used for fertilizer etc…we have a one bag of garbage max per household per week…all the rest has to be recycled or “green boxed” over and above we have to pay to dispose of…I am still on the fence as to whether the g. disposal is good for then environment or not….
I have been visiting California on holiday and was facinated with the concept of a garbage disposal! It certainly is convenient, but I looked up on line to see if it really is environmentally friendly…I live in Canada, where, similar to what Shannon said above, we have, in addition to a blue box recycling we also have a a “green box” that the city picks up on “garbage day” all compost food waste and wet paper towels etc go in there and are sent to the main city dump where it is converted into compost and then used for fertilizer etc…we have a one bag of garbage max per household per week…all the rest has to be recycled or “green boxed” over and above we have to pay to dispose of…I am still on the fence as to whether the g. disposal is good for then environment or not….
Did you know that the study by the Univ of Wisc. mentioned in your article was funded by the Insinkerator disposal company? So i would consider the conclusion that garbage disposals are “green” a bit flawed. I would love to know the correct answer to this question of the impact on disposals on water treatment systems.
Did you know that the study by the Univ of Wisc. mentioned in your article was funded by the Insinkerator disposal company? So i would consider the conclusion that garbage disposals are “green” a bit flawed. I would love to know the correct answer to this question of the impact on disposals on water treatment systems.