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Your kitchen’s garbage disposal is a powerful appliance that most home cooks wouldn’t want to do without. To keep your garbage disposal working properly and your drains clog-free, there are some foods that you shouldn’t put down the sink. However, many of these food scraps work wonders as compost for your backyard garden. Let’s take a look at some of them.
#1 Banana Peels
Banana peels deliver a double blow when tossed into the kitchen sink. They wrap around disposal blades impeding operations. Since your disposal often can’t process them into small enough pieces, banana peels end up clogging pipes as well. However, these nutrient-dense food scraps provide excellent organic material for compost piles. They’re packed with goodies such as potassium, magnesium, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 that enrich garden soils. Before tossing a bunch of banana peels into your compost pile, try slicing them up first to speed up composting time.
#2 Potato Peels
Throwing a few potato peels into your garbage disposal seems harmless enough, but these soft skins can cause some trouble for your disposal and drain pipes in the long run. Potatoes are starchy vegetables. The starch that clings to the potato skins can stick to your disposal, reducing its effectiveness, and it can clog pipes. Potato peels break down well in compost bins, and no extra cutting is required to move the process along. If your garden is deficient in nitrogen, phosphorus, or magnesium, potato skins are the ideal additions to your compost bin.
#3 Coffee Grounds
Many people drink coffee daily and think nothing of rinsing used coffee grounds down the sink. While the grounds don’t harm the garbage disposal, they can clog your plumbing. Coffee grounds that are used in composting attract beneficial microorganisms to your garden soil. The results are stronger, healthier plants.
Conclusion
If you’ve spent years putting the wrong foods down your kitchen sink, it’s likely that clogged drains are soon to follow. In addition to factual advice about foods that are better suited for your compost pile and not your garbage disposal, we also offer first-rate drain cleaning services.
If you need drain cleaning services, just fill out our form online or call us at (901) 795-9044 to schedule an appointment. Our pros are trained in cleanliness and will exercise the utmost care and caution while assisting you.