# What is "ok" to put through a sink disposal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 3, 2025, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542 "2025-11-03T21:01:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/141 "2025-12-15T08:01:22Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I have long assumed the local prohibitions on flushing TP in many countries were more a matter of the design of the sewage treatment infrastructure than the pipes in the building and under the streets. But that’s an assumption, not certain knowledge. > > @robby? Having just gotten back from a trip to Turkey (which had emphatic signs in the restaurants and hotels saying not to flush toilet paper), I think the main issue is the size of the laterals that connect to the sewer main. A restaurant or hotel manager couldn’t care less about the wastewater treatment plant, but they do care about a backup into their property from a clogged lateral. While their current standards do apparently call for 150 mm laterals (~6 inches)—which is comparable to standards in the U.S.—many older properties in Turkey reportedly have 3-inch or even 2-inch laterals. Also, with newer properties, it is my understanding that codes and standards there are often not followed as stringently as in the U.S. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/142 "2025-12-15T14:04:59Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Hair would just wrap around anything spinning and jam it up. You can get a strainer (SinkShroom or the like) which work well for catching hair, though can be gross to clean. But less gross to deal with a small amount weekly rather than a wet slimy hair glob with a snake. Yup. An in-sink gadget that could make hair safe for the drains would be awesome. But it doesn’t exist. I clean the disgusting little filter in by bathroom sink ~weekly and am grateful every time that i have a garbage disposal in the kitchen sink. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/143 "2025-12-15T15:17:59Z")
It seems from many of the posts in this thread that most users homes don’t feature compost disposal? Beck I think indicates that she has a compost bin but don’t others? I just assume its typical in rural homes and anywhere with a decent garden. In Western Canada it seems all major communities have green bins for organic waste pick up. An under sink compost bin can get gross if you leave it, but if you empty it daily its really not an issue. Just don’t understand why people are putting crap down their sink. No consequences yet? Let me tell you, I see the consequences. They exist. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/144 "2025-12-15T16:18:17Z")
IME very few suburban homes compost anything. Just about unheard of. And nearly nobody who lives urban does. There are folks who grew up rural with routine composting and took the habit with them when they moved to suburbia. But those folks are the exception that proves the rule. There are also folks who become avid gardeners who then take up composting to feed their gardening. ISTM the causality runs that way. First you want to consume compost, so then you begin creating some. Composting is not seen primarily as a means of disposal; that’s what the trash removal service is for. Again at least not among the bulk of urban and suburban folks. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/145 "2025-12-15T16:22:04Z")
I see composting primarily as a means of disposal. And we do have a compost bin my husband empties it into the mulch pile when it gets full. The “mulch pile” is just the place where i take all the excess leaves in the fall. But every day i tip most of my tea leaves into the compost bin, and then rinse off the teapot and pour the rest of those leaves down the kitchen drain, where the disposal deals with them. Lots of small scraps go down the drain. (Oh, I’ve tried to use our compost with plants. It doesn’t get hot enough to kill stuff, so everything that compost touches rots, including many live plants. It all stays in the mulch like, where it doesn’t bother anyone.) ---
**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 15, 2025, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/146 "2025-12-15T16:29:33Z")
Does the mulch pile eventually disintegrate? ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/147 "2025-12-15T16:57:22Z")
Our town has a composting program, put in place by some regulation aimed to reduce the amount of organic waste going to the landfill. They even gave out little countertop compost bins at the start of the program. Now that our grocery stores only provide compostable bags for produce, we have a supply of liners for the bin, and we just put bags of compost into our green waste bin (leaves, yard trimmings, grass clippings, etc.), which is collected each week - I suspect this sort of program may be the exception to the rule for suburban areas, as @puzzlegal states. Having the compost bin on the counter next to the sink makes it even easier to properly dispose of food and cooking waste rather than sending it down the disposal. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/148 "2025-12-15T17:04:49Z")
Calgary and most Western Canadian cities have something similar. Everyone gets a little green bucket for under the sink. At the curb there is green, blue and black bins. Composted soil is used by city landscaping department and is available to residents if the want it for their shrub beds. It has resulted in a significant decrease in landfill. Not sure how the methane mitigation is handled. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/149 "2025-12-15T17:14:18Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Small bits like scrapings from your plate. Despite the name it’s not meant for large chunks of food as an alternative to the actual garbage or compost. Yeah, that’s the thing. People who’ve never had one before sometimes think, “Gee, I can stop buying garbage bags now.” Nope. Personally, I’m happy to have strainers in each side of my sink. It only takes a moment to empty them when I see food accumulating. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/150 "2025-12-15T20:43:15Z")
I mean, there are always leaves there… It was getting larger every year until my husband started putting the kitchen scraps in it, though. And now, it gets much larger in the fall, if course, ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/151 "2025-12-15T20:47:29Z")
> [@FluffyBob](#): > > It seems from many of the posts in this thread that most users homes don’t feature compost disposal? We do have a Green Waste bin, originally for lawn cuttings, leaves, etc. But in the last year or so, they now want us to put other compotsables in small clear plastic bags in there. ---
**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 15, 2025, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/152 "2025-12-15T21:26:27Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > It was getting larger every year until my husband started putting the kitchen scraps in it, though. And now, it gets much larger in the fall, if course, Forgive my ignorance. Does it get used or does it wax and wane? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/153 "2025-12-15T21:38:30Z")
I never remove anything from it. But the fluffy fall leaves compress, and then they shrink as they rot. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/154 "2025-12-16T01:50:25Z")
My thought is that unless it’s sealed, compost will attract furry little rodents and assorted animaliculae. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/155 "2025-12-16T02:37:43Z")
Nature! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/156 "2025-12-16T09:46:29Z")
We have oak trees. My yard was full of furry rodents before we started putting out compost. 🤷‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2025, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/157 "2025-12-16T11:27:17Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > FWIW I have an unusually powerful sink disposal (as these things go). Does that matter? One horsepower or 100 does it make a difference (made up numbers…mine is certainly nowhere near 100 HP…more like 1.5HP…100 would be beyond silly). I worked in the cafeteria my senior year in college. I don’t know how many horsepower the disposal was but I do know that it could pretty easily chew up dinner plates. The only thing that would bog it down was silverware. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/158 "2025-12-17T01:20:34Z")
> [@robby](#): > > A restaurant or hotel manager couldn’t care less about the wastewater treatment plant, but they do care about a backup into their property from a clogged lateral. unless… of course they have an on-site septic tank system that (pardon my french now) will digest shit for years, but cannot keep up w/ TP (which hardly decomposes) and surely worse - female hygene products … hence reducing the service intervalls by the factor of 10. If your lateral supports and transports 300g of hot-steaming-feces, chances are it will also transport 10g of TP Source: me, having a house w/ septic tank ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/159 "2025-12-17T02:19:40Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > female hygene products … AKA “blind mice” in the plumbers’ lingo. ---
**Author:** ![md-2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9d8465/32.png) [@md-2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md-2000)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2025, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542/160 "2025-12-17T02:38:57Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > We have oak trees. My yard was full of furry rodents before we started putting out compost. 🤷‍♀️ However, we only got trees big enough to support a squirrel (only seen one so far) in the last few years. Fortunately, the voles and field mice are gone thanks to an alternate diet. Voles make a serious mess of the lawn in winter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-ok-to-put-through-a-sink-disposal/1024542.md?page=9)