So I'm married to an Engineer and sometimes I can't come up with a good enough answer to his question! Erica, Emily, can you feel my pain?
So I started my little veggie and fruit compost bin to add to the yard waste bin today, and feeling quite proud of my green little self, I informed Calvin that this bin is now where we put fruit and vegetable waste and that we could dump it at the end of each day. He wondered if that was really any better than putting it down the garbage disposal. I said we're saving electricity. He said, what about the extra trips the garbage truck will make?
Thoughts?
6 comments:
What extra trips are the garbage men going to take? Don't they make the same trips everyday?
They drive up and down the streets picking up trash and recycling until the truck is full, then they make a run to the dump. If there is more garbage in each can they have to make more trips to the dump. This increases the wear on the road, the pollution in the air and the consumtion of fuel.
On the other hand, if we were to compost the material in our own back yard, I would be all for it! Then if either Jenny or I had a green thumb, maybe we could use it to grow our own food.
Calvin
Okay I did some poking around; the quotes are from Wikipedia :)
1.) "What Does Not Go Down Garbage Disposals: Potato skins or large amounts of potato, Corn cobs or husks, lettuce, asparagus and other fibrous fruits and vegetables" So you aren't even supposed to put most fruits and veggies in the disposal! So, say you don't follow this rule and need repair that Calvin or David CAN'T fix (yeah, I know, Calvin is laughing at that idea), how much gas is guzzled by the repair man's truck, how much energy is wasted making new parts or repair tools... Yes, I know this is a stretch but it's something!
2.) "Anytime you put anything in your disposal make sure you run water for about 30 seconds." Hmmm, waste of water as well as electricity! Think of the energy used in making that water useable that is going straight down the sink.
3.) Waste water has to be cleaned before reintroduced to waterways = more energy wasted. Less disposal crap is less cleaning.
4.) If we put our fruits and veggies scraps into the bin, we are contributing to topsoil used to grow more plants and trees!
Someday I want to do my own composting and use it for our planter boxes. Someday...
p.s. I am more playing the devil's advocate here. I'm not 100% convinced but it seems right now, when most people aren't doing this, it won't contribute to more energy wasted than using the disposal. Once more people are doing this and more trips have to be made by the garbage truck, maybe I'll have my own compost bin in the backyard!
Wow, a credible source and everything. Makes sence to me Erica. What do you think now Calvin?
It sounds like:
Veggies --> Disposal (OK, in some cases)
Veggies --> Yard Waste Bin (Better)
Veggies --> Back Yard Compost Pile (Best)
Calvin
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