Dispose of the Disposal

After reading my last post, Anne asked if garbage disposals were eco-friendly.  I honestly had no idea.  I always assumed it was a better choice to putting my food scraps in the garbage where they would be hauled miles away buy gas-guzzling trucks.
Turns out I was wrong!

I found this fantastic article on treehugger.com:
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/02/is-my-in-sink-garbage-disposal-eco-friendly.php

Apparently, not only is the water we use to wash the food down the drain with wasteful, but oil clogs are the number one cause of sewer overflow and blockages.  This costs cities billions of dollars a year.

The best choice, of course, is composting.  But it looks like the second best choice is just throwing it away!  I'll remember that next time I find a two-year-old bottle of blue cheese salad dressing lurking in my fridge.

totally depressing environmental fact:
According to a 2005 California Energy Commission report, 19% of California’s electricity use, and 32% of its natural gas use is for pumping water and wastewater! So, not only is water a scarce resource that should be conserved, but pumping it requires a lot of energy and, in California at least, contributes a significant amount to global warming.


totally inspiring environmental tip:
(found this great thing in the treehugger article:)
NatureMill indoor automatic composter. This product, made from recycled materials, includes a small heater and mixer (uses only $0.50 of electricity per month) to maintain industrial-grade composting conditions. This means that you can even compost meat, dairy, and fish in it, which is typically a composting faux pas. The unit fits under your sink or on your fire escape, so even the most urban of us can avoid sending food waste down the drain while producing up to 120 pounds per month of rich organic compost each month.
Perfect for apartment dwellers!
I looked it up and it seems AMAZING!