Food waste in the land fill (natural, cost, electricity, composting)

[Ivorytickler]

How do you reduce food waste going into the land fill if you can't compost and you can't use a garbage disposal?

I recently moved into a condo where there is no composting. I was using my garbage disposal to get rid of food waste so it didn't go into the land fill but the plumber who just cleared the drain has informed me that basically you can't use a disposal for anything. He said no peelings, no starchy vegetable matter, no egg shells or eggs, no rice, pasta or bread. Um, ok, so what is the darned thing for? I knew you can't put coffee grounds, seeds or onions down but I had no idea they are basically useless. I always thought it was better to put things down the disposal than put them into a land fill. Since I can't compost I thought this was the better option but it turns out it's not an option. Two eggshells, a cucumber peeling and some parsley stems just cost me $265.00. I've had a disposal for years but since the city I used to live in had composting most of the food waste went there. The condo complex doesn't have composting or allow it and there's nothing I could do with the compost anyway since I can't plant. FTR a condo was dh's dream not mine. I'd have a garden and wouldn't have this problem if we were in a house.

Am I stuck putting potato peels into land fills for the rest of my life?

Thanks. Any ideas would be appreciated. I thought about cooking them before putting them down the disposal but that would just use natural gas.

[Zoisite]

How do you reduce food waste going into the land fill

It's one small suggestion, but one thing you can do is to not have many vegetable peelings to dispose of, you can eat them. All the root vegetables I cook (usually roasted) get scrubbed in water, they don't get peeled. It's faster than peeling and so much more nutritious to eat the cooked peels intact on the root veggies since there's a lot of extra vitamins and flavour in the peels.


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[Hemlock140]

I don't know why a plumber would say that, in fact I would have him to suggested things that clog it, for more business. We have used a disposal in all three homes we have lived in for 40'years, and the only things that ever clogged it (but were easy to clear) were artichoke leaves, potato peels and celery. Eggshells, rice, pasta and bread have never been a problem. We do have composting, but those compostable bags decompose and leak before the next week's pickup, making the bucket a nasty mess. Many sewage treatment plants compost and sell or give away, or use it for anaerobic digestion to generate electricity.

[2 rainbows]

Originally Posted by Ivorytickler

How do you reduce food waste going into the land fill
if you can't compost and you can't use a garbage disposal?

1. Do know veggie peelings contain much nutrition, so don't peel them; just enjoy having them nourish you.
+
2. Since you don't now have an outside garden, you can keep a worm-bin inside, which will bless you with
Fertile soil to grow lotsa herbs & veggies in windows, see...
WindowGarden + DIY Vertical Window Garden - All

[Lorra254]

There are numerous ways to reduce food waste. Not peeling of root vegetables is one good thing to do. Also, in some countries it has been made strict to donate food reaching expiry. I believe, it's not just the consumers, but also the industries and distributors of food should be careful about wasting food. I recently came across this graphic that shows exactly how much food is waste all over and ways we could reduce the wastage. https://www.unipointsoftware.com/food-waste-facts/ I personally feel, it's high time to think upon this seriously.

[jacqueg]

You can try either a worm bin or bokashi composting.

I'm sure you can find someone who would appreciate the resulting product.

I haven't done bokashi myself, but it was developed to solve exactly your problem - urban dweller with no yard.

Lots of info on the web about both.