According to the International Association of Certified Home Inspectors, the average lifespan of your garbage disposal is 12 years. Now that’s the best deal in town since a disposal costs anywhere from $100 to $300 on average without installation. On the other hand, a water heater can cost significantly more, and it lasts about the same amount of time. Unfortunately, in some homes, our garbage disposals are the most abused appliance in our home, so let’s give it a break.
Save Your Garbage Disposal 🙂
Here are some cool ideas that will give your garbage disposal a break while extending its life expectancy. It also adds a new twist on what we can do with our food scraps. Start composting! Instead of having all your coffee grounds, orange peels, banana peels, eggshells, and more go down the drain, in the trash, and out to our landfills, put them in a composter.
how Does Composting Work?
Microorganisms from our soil consume the organic waste that contain carbon-containing compounds in our waste and breaks it down into its simplest components during composting. This result is the production of fiber-rich and carbon-containing humus which is the organic component of soil. It also contains other nutrients such as phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen. The microorganisms will need aerobic respiration that will break down the material with the required oxygen, which you get from the air you supply when you stir the materials in your compost bin. Water is also needed for microorganisms to survive and proliferate.
The microbes release carbon dioxide and heat during the respiration process, and temperatures in the compost bin may reach 100 to 150 degrees Fahrenheit (38 to 66 C). Much will depend on the air temperatures in your area. The decomposition process into the finished compost could take as little as two or three weeks if you actively stir the compost in the bin or compost pile regularly. Wow, I know that’s an earful, but that’s how the process works.
Create Your Own Compost And Grow You Own Vegetables
The compost does wonders in your vegetable garden and around trees and shrubs. It will also give your garbage disposal a break from constant use while making excellent use of our food waste. Furthermore, it will prevent food waste from entering our landfills. But let’s face it, composting is much like gardening; for example, it would be much easier and cheaper to go to the store and buy tomatoes than to grow them. The same is true for composting, but there is something so fulfilling about growing our own vegetables and creating our own compost.
What Kind Of Composter Do I Purchase?
Any home center like Home Depot or Lowes will have them, along with Costco. If this is your first time, you can find used composters on OfferUp and eBay that work just as well for a fraction of the cost. There are also plenty of videos online that will teach you how to make a composter for just a few bucks. We also want to point out that there are two types of composting: one for a heavy volume of leaves and grass and another for food scraps. Although they will compost well together, the food scraps are better concealed to avoid insects and rodents.
Use A Small Counter Top Bucket For Your Food Scraps
Some stores, along with Amazon, carry the small countertop stainless steel two-gallon container for food scraps. They come complete with a carbon filter. There is absolutely no smell, and the scraps should be disposed of in the composter once or twice a week. For over a year now, our family has composted. We started with a small plastic bucket, an old 1-gallon ice cream container that sits next to our sink. The lid is from an old pot cover. When it got full, we would take it out to the composter. It didn’t give off any odor whatsoever.
It Takes 6 Weeks To Create A New Habit
Like anything else we do in life, this takes a little effort. It’s like taking out the trash. Why is it such a problem? (Especially for teenagers) The difference between composting and taking out the trash is that you can see the results from your composting. This year was our first full year, and we got 20 gallons of compost for the above-ground garden we planted. We could have done even better. By the way, we created the above-ground garden from an old fence we tore down. (Recycle, reuse, reduce!) In our home, composting has become a habit. It’s excellent for the environment, teaches our kids a great lesson, and for some, it gives peace of mind.
What you’ll need to get started:
- A countertop bucket
- Rotating composter
- Bag of manure to help decomposition.
Give Your Garbage Disposal A Break And Start Composting
Let’s give our garbage disposal a break and create a good habit by composting. For garbage disposal installation, Big B’s Plumbing is a full-service plumbing company that’s licensed, bonded, and insured #9896152. The Better Business Bureau also accredits us with an A+ rating.