# Is it more environmentally friendly to put food scraps down the garbage disposal or to put them in the kitchen trash?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-put-food-scraps-down-the-garbage-disposal-or-to-put-them-in-the-kitchen-trash/975828>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 1, 2022, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-put-food-scraps-down-the-garbage-disposal-or-to-put-them-in-the-kitchen-trash/975828 "2022-12-01T02:23:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 4

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-put-food-scraps-down-the-garbage-disposal-or-to-put-them-in-the-kitchen-trash/975828/61 "2022-12-02T13:16:42Z")

</div>

> [@Ulfreida](#):
>
> My plumber husband warns against doing this with any particles bigger than applesauce.

As do most plumbers, although garbage disposals generate a lot of business for them in the form of expensive call-outs, snaking of clogged lines, etc.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-put-food-scraps-down-the-garbage-disposal-or-to-put-them-in-the-kitchen-trash/975828/62 "2022-12-02T15:05:37Z")

</div>

> [@nearwildheaven](#):
>
> things that should NOT be placed in a garbage disposal; raw potatoes, even just the peels, are one of them, because the starch will turn into thick paste.

That’s one that I knew, but didn’t really _know_ until one of my roomates demonstrated that he didn’t know that at all. That was a mess that ended up having to cut out a section of my basement wall to be able to cut out the clogged pipes, as an auger just wasn’t making _any_ headway on it.

(ETA: uncooked rice, too, should never go down the drain.)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-put-food-scraps-down-the-garbage-disposal-or-to-put-them-in-the-kitchen-trash/975828/63 "2022-12-02T16:19:22Z")

</div>

> [@LSLGuy](#):
>
> Sure your question is interesting on its face, but it hardly seems like your Mom’s position has anything to do with environmental impact. Am I missing something?

I read it as that the OP’s mother is trying to use the “environmentally friendly” card to put food waste in the sink disposal (where it won’t stink up the house), rather than in the garbage.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-put-food-scraps-down-the-garbage-disposal-or-to-put-them-in-the-kitchen-trash/975828/64 "2022-12-02T19:33:26Z")

</div>

Actually, it was more that I played the environmental card. She thinks that it’s environmentally neutral.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-more-environmentally-friendly-to-put-food-scraps-down-the-garbage-disposal-or-to-put-them-in-the-kitchen-trash/975828.md?page=3)