302673 Sat Oct 22 11:16:41 -0700 2005 24 29 Not About Food 0 1696146 Next to the sink, I've always kept an empty cardboard milk carton opened on the top, to dump vegetable roots, egg shells, and otherwise potentially wet things into. I wonder how everyone else handles stuff like this if you don't own an in-sink garbage disposal? Do you just throw these things in your trash can? Sat Oct 22 11:16:41 -0700 2005 0 Buttah 1 1696147 I believe you can create a compost pile IF you have a backyard in which to do it, and then, the compost can be used as fertilizer for a garden, also if you have a yard. Is that an option for you? Sat Oct 22 11:54:19 -0700 2005 1696146 0 Val 1 1696148 Compost. Wet things with the exception of meat (it just goes in with the trash) go in a small plastic bucket and are taken out to the compost bin each evening. I have happy plants! Sat Oct 22 11:55:29 -0700 2005 1696146 0 OCEllen 1 1696149 I still scrape the scraps from my plate to the garbage prior to a quick rinse in the sink. It's an old habit I established with my first apartment (disposaless thanks to a cheap landlord.) I now have the Tim Allen Woodchipper In-Sink-erator 1.1 installed under the sink at Castle Ranger. I know a young couple that composts (almost) everything -- specifically organic materials. Their garden is a year-round wonder but they also have the benefit of living out in what I consider the wilds of Hughson. (It can get ripe if you are down-wind and not careful of where you stand during some of their backyard bashes.) Sat Oct 22 12:02:30 -0700 2005 1696146 0 The Ranger 2 1696171 If their pile STINKS, it's not composting, it's rotting. There's a difference. A healthy compost pile should smell mostly like freshly turned earth. Mon Oct 24 10:33:23 -0700 2005 1696149 0 ricepad 3 1696174 You are absoutely right! Mon Oct 24 10:40:02 -0700 2005 1696171 0 malibumike 1 1696151 I put most meat/fruit/vegetable trimmings and other things like that in a plastic bag which I keep in the freezer. When it's full (or close) I put it in the garbage shortly before the garbage collector arrives. Sat Oct 22 13:52:15 -0700 2005 1696146 0 taco_belle 2 1696154 I do this too! I'm renting a house right now that has a garbage disposal (wouldn't live without one anymore!) but it really doesn't do a good job of grinding up chicken skins at all so I also freeze them til the morning of garbage pick up; prevents flies and other nasty things in the garbage barrel. Sat Oct 22 17:57:00 -0700 2005 1696151 0 Val 1 1696152 While I have a small garden for our two-condo house, I don't have room to compost, so I gave that idea up. And no disposer (don't want one, either; more trouble than they are worth, among other things). So I goes into garbage (which includes food and wet items and is tightly sealed, esp in summer) rather than trash (dry items only). Sat Oct 22 16:03:14 -0700 2005 1696146 0 Karl S. 2 1696176 Me, too. No yard associated with my apartment, no disposal - in fact, I've never lived in an apartment with a disposal, though I've lived in seven apartments in the last dozen years. There are occasionally comments on the board that indicate that people are genuinely baffled by how people live without garbage disposals, and I always find that funny. Garbage can with a lid. Outdoor cans, also with lid. Done. Link: http://seasonalcook.blogspot.com Mon Oct 24 11:21:05 -0700 2005 1696152 0 curiousbaker 1 1696156 In the "old" days, garbage disposals were unavailable to those with a septic tank. Insinkerator recently introduced a garbage disposal that is designed for places on a septic system. An FYI. Sat Oct 22 21:43:27 -0700 2005 1696146 0 jlawrence01 2 1696162 Regarding disposals and septic systems, I built a house is Washington State in 1969. The property was on a septic system and there was a disposal. Nobody (architect, contractor or plumber) ever said or suggested that these were incompatible. Sun Oct 23 16:07:43 -0700 2005 1696156 0 taco_belle 1 1696168 I feed the birds. I live on the beach and seagulls and pigeons (which are actually Rock Doves) are my garbage disposals. They eat everything and anything. I just pitch it over my deck onto the beach and the birds come flying. Mon Oct 24 09:28:03 -0700 2005 1696146 0 BlueHerons 1 1696169 if the stuff is really messy you can always wrap it in newspaper before you put it in the garbage... Mon Oct 24 09:32:38 -0700 2005 1696146 0 furryabdul 1 1696170 We compost everything, we're no meat eaters so there is no meat scaps, everything goes in to a large, tight sealing tub and then taken to the compost once a week. Contary to other comments here, my compost pile does not smell of anything but a earthen smell. I stir it every now and then and sometimes mix leaves in to it. Mon Oct 24 10:01:48 -0700 2005 1696146 0 LikestoEatout 1 1696172 We compost egg shells, orange rinds, coffee grounds, etc. in a Mantis double chamber barrel composter, used it for years, works good. When done it is great for the vegetable garden or under trees. For meat scraps and the like get a dog and dont listen to people that say it is not good for them, I've had many dogs and never a problem. We have a garbage disposal but everybody here in Malibu is on a septic system so you dont want to overtax it. Mon Oct 24 10:36:33 -0700 2005 1696146 0 malibumike 1 1696175 I compost vegetable matter and paper, as well as egg shells, as the calcium is excellent for the makup of the soil. Meat products and animal fat should NEVER go in a compost pile. My town does not allow ANY garbage disposers on our septic systems. Another poster mentioned some mfg has one now that is supposed to be OK for septic systems, but this seems illogical, as the whole septic system process is based on breaking down already digested waste, not on unconsumed foods. I simply throw my meat scraps and bones in the trash. If it is going to be more than a day or two until I get rid of the trash, I may store the scraps in the freezer so they don't develop nasty odors--i do that with the packaging that meats and poultry come in too. Mon Oct 24 11:08:42 -0700 2005 1696146 0 Two Forks 1 1696177 Haven't used one myself, but a worm composter is an option--essentially, a bin full of worms. If you google on "worm compost" you'll get lots of hits. Or start at the link below. Link: http://www.mastercomposter.com/worm/wormcomp.html Mon Oct 24 12:10:57 -0700 2005 1696146 0 Aromatherapy 2 1696224 Yes, a worm bin is great - I bought one about 4 years ago because I didn't want to give up space in my small yard for a compost pile. I bought a really fancy 3-tier bin on sale and I love it, but you can use just a plastic tub with holes drilled in. Nearly all fruit and vegetable scraps go in, but I put really big stuff like corn husks and most of the apple cores when I make applesauce in the city composting can. A small bucket on the kitchen counter holds coffee grounds, peels, crushed egg shells, etc. etc and we feed the worms when it gets full. Worm composting uses red wiggler worms, like bait worms, not earthworms. I got mine from Sonoma Valley Worm Farm. They are not as active in the winter, but in summer I can't feed them fast enough. They produce gorgeous, black castings that go directly into the garden. I used to keep the bin outside on the north side of the house, but put them in the shed one really hot summer. You could easily keep one on a porch or balcony. Tue Oct 25 12:32:24 -0700 2005 1696177 0 Junie D 1 1696190 We put everything in the trash except bacon grease or large quantities of oils, which go in a coffee can under the sink that is thrown out when full; and stinky bits, like leftover fish, chix bones, shrimp shells, tinfoil that fish or meat was cooked in, etc. We generally put these into old grocery bags, double bag and seal them with twisties, then stick them in the freezer until trash day. Then they go outside into the barrel on the morning of the pickup. Mon Oct 24 15:40:49 -0700 2005 1696146 0 neighbor 2 1696196 Exactly what I do with meat-ish stuff. Vegetable scraps go into a triangular plastic drainer that lives in the corner of the sink, same type my mom had since the 50s. Once a day I schlep them out to the Smith & Hawken composting bin, which is odor-free and quite efficient. Don't look at me like that, Smith & Hawken, yeah they're pricy, but hey, my county subsidizes the purchase of, get this, one of each type of composter for each household. Yes I live in the Bay Area. Mon Oct 24 16:45:25 -0700 2005 1696190 0 Shep 1 1696201 I have a disposal unit, but I try not to use it for anything that I wouldn't compost IF I had a compost pile. Fish scraps go immediately out to the bin in a plastic sack; most meat and poultry leftovers go into the freezer for stock making, after which they get bagged and carried out too. The garbage bin gets a little ripe by Wednesday, but the dog's the only one who hangs out by it, and she doesn't complain... When I was a kid, Mr. Washburn would come by with his horse and wagon on Saturdays and pick up garbage (50¢ a week, I think). We used to vie for the honor of riding on that reeking wagon with him. Mon Oct 24 17:17:23 -0700 2005 1696146 0 Will Owen 1 1696271 In Seattle you can now put your compostable food waste in with your yard waste. We have three pickups: trash, recycle, and yard waste. Acceptable food waste includes any veg scraps, eggshells, coffee grounds and tea bags, soiled napkins, pizza boxes. We keep a tiny trash bin under the sink next to the regular trash. Almost everything ends up in it; we don't have a lot of meat waste because we EAT IT ALL. Just a few bones is all that's left. The only drag is, the new yard waste bins are GIGANTIC. 96 gallons, 180 pound weight limit, almost as tall as granny. I imagine there are little old ladies trapped under them all over the city... Link: http://www.seattle.gov/util/Services/Yard/Yard_Waste_Collection/New_Yard_Waste_Services/COS_004398.asp Wed Oct 26 18:22:47 -0700 2005 1696146 0 Fnarf 1 1696374 That's why people have dogs. Sat Oct 29 08:57:10 -0700 2005 1696146 0 dinwiddie 1 1696442 I live on a farm so we feed scraps to the pigs and chickens. Microwave the potato peels and chicken scraps to the catfish but everything else goes to th piggies and chickens. Tue Nov 01 14:30:15 -0800 2005 1696146 0 michael b