While your garbage disposal can handle liquid or semi-solid fat, grease, and oil, the rest of your home’s plumbing system cannot. Instead, throw the greasy stuff out with the trash; seal liquid oil and grease in a can or jar first.
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Delicious on your plate, but a problem in your plumbing, both pasta and rice continue to swell with water, even after cooking. Toss them in the trash unless you’re willing to risk a clog.
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Even though very small bones will probably pass through without a problem, it’s safest to keep all bones, fruit pits, and seafood shells out of your garbage disposal. These hard items can break your disposal or clog up your plumbing.
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Tossing your unused medications down the garbage disposal might seem like a smart way to dispose of controlled substances, but putting drugs into the plumbing system can eventually impact the water supply. Instead, the FDA recommends removing the drugs from their packaging, putting them in a plastic bag with something unappealing like dirt or cat litter, then disposing of the bag in the trash.
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While most vegetables can safely pass through the garbage disposal, fibrous veggies, including artichoke, celery, rhubarb, lettuce, kale, cornhusks, onion skins, asparagus, and chard tend to tangle around the disposal’s blades. Add these to your compost heap instead, or toss them in the trash.
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It’s convenient to peel spuds over the kitchen sink, but don’t send those peels down the drain. Potato peels turn into a gluey mass inside your plumbing pipes, and pose a major clog risk.
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If metal or glass fall into your garbage disposal, don’t turn it on. Instead, switch off the disposal at the unit under the sink, then try to fish out the offending item with a fork, grabber, or hook. If that's not possible, put on gloves to protect your hands and carefully retrieve the item. Always make sure the garbage disposal is completely turned off before attempting to retrieve an item from the sink.
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There’s some dispute about whether or not eggshells and coffee grounds are safe for the garbage disposal, but why take a chance? Instead, add them to your compost pile, mix them around your outdoor potted plants to add nutrients, or dispose of them in the trash.
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Go ahead and reduce your fat intake by removing chicken skin before cooking, but don’t toss that skin down your garbage disposal. It can easily clog your plumbing, and brings unnecessary germs and stink to your sink.
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It’s fine to put citrus, apple, or banana peels into the garbage disposal, but be sure to remove any produce stickers before you do. Stickers are likely to stick to the disposal blades or the inside of your pipes.
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Don’t be so casual about disposing things down the drain. It might seem like it was rinsed or flushed away, but certain materials can cause serious havoc on your plumbing.
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