When I got to work this morning I had a message in my inbox that said this, “Brianna, I thought you said only certain things can go in the garbage disposal. No one believes me. Can you help?” If you hang around the askHRgreen.org blog, you’ve probably heard our message about limiting the use of the garbage disposal, but you may not remember why.
The garbage disposal only breaks up food; it doesn’t “dispose” of it. Food particles washed down the drain travel through your city’s sewer infrastructure consisting of hundreds of miles of sewer pipe and pump stations all carrying our wastewater to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) water treatment plant. That’s a system you never want to stop flowing. As fats, oils, and grease cool in the pipes and harden, food particles get stuck and only add to the blockage. When wastewater is blocked it can push up through a manhole and flow in the street or to nearby storm drains and possibly contaminate our waterways. Trashing food scraps ensures that food particles end up at their final destination and don’t create a sewer overflow which can lead to environmental contamination and potential fines for localities.
Food particles can also create issues at the wastewater treatment plant. HRSD is limited by permit on what they can release into our waterways. While able to treat some volume of organically loaded wastewater, higher loadings do require additional treatment. That means additional dollars must be spent removing the food particles we “dispose” of using our garbage disposal. Even though we can’t see the particles once they’re down the drain, somebody, somewhere, has to deal with that food and dispose of it/treat it properly. Help your home plumbing, your city and HRSD out by placing food scraps in the trash.
For more information about garbage disposals and the science behind their harmful effect on the environment, check out this great blog post.