<p>I put everything, including banana peels, down my disposal (which is a very heavy-duty one). I also let it run with the hottest possible water for quite a while, to make sure grease and food bits don’t congeal and form an impassible mess.</p>
<p>We have always put everything down our garbage disposal except bones and fat. The rule when I was growing up was that food NEVER, EVER goes into the garbage, always down the garbage disposal-- the garbage can is for paper products only. We’ve never had a problem, but recently I’ve been reading that the way we do things is apparently not the norm-- a lot of people I know apparently don’t put anything intentionally down their disposal. Always run the water when you use it, and make sure you let it run long enough.</p>
<p>I have noticed our disposal in the new house does not seem quite as capable as the garbage disposal I grew up with. It got a little mad at me for lettuce leaves yesterday, and it doesn’t love raw chicken either. It hasn’t clogged but it makes scary noises. It had no problem with the entire bag of potatoes I peeled the other day. I would sooner replace it with something more powerful than stop using it the way we do, though. I lived 20 years putting everything down the disposal without a single problem and am not about to be convinced I can’t do it. I don’t want smelly garbage stinking up my garage while I wait for trash day.</p>
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I’ve been using my garbage disposal with my septic system for over 25 years with no issues at all. I don’t really see why it’d cause a problem with it since there’s a relatively small amount of solids added to the septic system and those solids are ‘pureed’ and I imagine would either break down relatively quickly and anything that doesn’t break down would be removed when the system is pumped every few years.</p>
<p>I’ve put potato peels in it and never had a problem. We put almost everything in it. the only thing we don’t put in it is highly fibrous stuff, which we don’t frequently have to put in it anyway, and avoid putting all the orange peels in it when we juice oranges although I doubt even that would cause a problem.</p>
<p>Our experience has been the same as GladGradDad’s. We’ve had a dispoal with a septic system for almost 17 years. We do try to be careful. We compost, so all that stuff goes outside, anyway. We get our septic tank cleaned out every couple of years.</p>
<p>Just put pumpkin pieces down the disposal (see the thanksgiving thread for the very yummy pumpkin muffin recipe!) and no problem with the insinkerator. Only once did our disposal clog and it was from carrot and cucumber peels. We have continued to put them down with no problem. Just run the water a lot.</p>
<p>I would run the cold water for a minute, and the keeping the water running, turn on the disposal for a minute, and then turn off the disposal and let the water run for another minute. I might also try grinding up some stuff that is good for the disposal to handle, such as an orange rind–again, let the cold water run a bit, then add the orange peel and turn on the disposal for a minute, and then turn it off and let the water run. I am thinking that maybe the rind could bring some of the artichoke leave with it down the pipes.</p>
<p>We have a septic system, and put everything down our disposal except banana peels and other very fibrous things like artichoke leaves. Have had a few minor clogs, but they were always fixable with the Allen wrench, and no problems at all with the septic system (we have it pumped every year). Coffee grounds go down the disposal every morning, and whenever we use oranges or lemons we always put them in the disposal to freshen it.</p>
<p>Don’t have a sewer system in our town–only septics. The town bylaws prohibit garbage disposals. People do put them in, but I’ve never had one. Maybe I don’t know what I’m missing, but I don’t think I need one. I compost fruit and veggie scraps, egg shells and coffee grinds.</p>
<p>If you’re going to put your hand down there, make sure and unplug it or turn off the circuit breaker first. When it’s stuck I can often put the handle of a wooden spoon down it to turn the blades. The allen wrench works, too. </p>
<p>I have rarely had a problem with peels, but you can’t cram then all down at once. Even onion peels. And use plenty of water. I never put banana peels, pineapple rind, pits, bones, and wouldn’t put artichoke leaves. I do put melon rinds, any kind of peel, any kind of citrus. I usually put a citrus rind through at least once a week.</p>
<p>A septic system’s capacity has to be matched to the size of the house (# of bedrooms, not bathrooms). Ideally, a properly matched system need not to be pumped every year or even every two years. Our county, known for its environment protecting efforts, does allow garbage disposals in houses on septic systems, with a caveat: the septic system has to be “monitored” every year (vs every 3 years for houses without disposals). “Monitoring” mean a septic dude from the approved by the county list shows up, peeks inside the tank and writes a report to the county to the tune of $200-300/visit. Any pumping fees, if needed, are extra. And if you have an ATU, you are hosed</p>
<p>I kind of like it without a disposal.</p>