Getting rid of food: Garbage disposal vs. trash

The other night, I was cleaning up after dinner and realized that I splitting up the food scraps between the trash bin and the garbage disposal. I asked myself, "Self, what's better for the environment?" Obviously, the best choice is to compost peels and cores in a compost heap, but unfortunately my current status as an apartment complex tenant isn't conductive to the compost piles similar to those like my grandfather used to keep.

Here's what Shift Your Habit has to say on the matter:

Believe it or not, it’s actually better to throw food away and have it be taken to a landfill than to turn it into puree via the kitchen sink.

Pushing food scraps into the garbage disposal does not make them disappear. It only adds to the solid waste that enters the wastewater treatment facility. This sludge not only requires additional chemicals for treatment, but when strained-out must ultimately be transported to a landfill anyway.

Unfortunately, not all sewage arrives safely at the treatment plant. Some pipes break, sending raw sewage spilling into streets, rivers, or beach areas and wreaking havoc on aquatic environments and human health and comfort.