In many communities homes are mandated by law to have garbage disposals to help deal with the more than 31 million tons of food scraps waste created each year. The most environmentally friendly way to get rid of food scraps is to compost them. But many people have no space to make compost, they don’t garden and have no use for the compost, or they simply aren’t interested in learning to make compost. The garbage disposal is an alternative solution. Scraps in your garbage disposal are pulverized and mixed with water so they can flow into wastewater treatment plants. Be sure your garbage disposal is in good running condition and put only fruit and vegetable waste in your disposal. Avoid hard items like peach pits. If your garbage disposal makes an unusually loud grinding metal noise, or if food jams and backs up when you use it, these are signs it needs repaired. Call Summers & Zim’s at 610-593-5129 and we’ll get it back in top running order, or replace it with a new one if repair isn’t possible.