Since the whole idea of getting rid of scraps in the kitchen composter is to wash it down the drain after the blades have a whack at it, I see no reason to try to retain any of it.
If the homeowner had any thought to try to save some kitchen craps, then a separate container under the sink must be thought of and separate that material that fits the description.

In some jurisdictions kitchen under-sink disposals are not allowed because they send too much bad water into sewers.

I'm holding up my hand for the ice cream bucket under the sink. I used to think I wanted a garbage disposal but ever since I started composting, I can't imagine having one. Everything in our kitchen goes either in the bucket, the garbage or the dog's bowl :-)

Val

Mark - while I got a little lost in all the sumps, pumps, codes and drains......I briefly thought your idea indeed was great. I was ready to sign up for one. Especially when I thought about not having to actually tread out to the compost pile through the snow. Then I kind of came to my senses when I realized I'd have to tread out there anyway to throw in the leaves (or shredded paper) that I use to cover the "greens".

I'm thinking the critters around here would like it though if only kitchen waste pumped out to the compost bin. (grin)

Val

On second thought it is too complicated to make it a continuous composting process. You could however make a small leach pit or "cesspool" just for the disposal waste. There won't be any of the fecal bacteria to contend with that are the reason regular cesspools are bad. So, just drain your disposal to this leach pit (covered of course to exclude pests and also with a compost pile on the top of it to treat any escaping odors) for a few months. When the weather is nice and you have a lot of browns handy, then you can dive in and mix up a batch of compost. By this I mean dig the collected scraps out of the leach pit and make a separate compost pile. In other words, it would be easier to make it a batch process that you have to deal with only once in a blue moon. In this regard it would be like having the container under the sink but you don't have to bend down, wrestle with the container, brave the smells and fruit flies, or go outside except every few months.

For the past 25 years my parents have lived on a farm here in Austin. They are by far from poor, but never had a disposal. I never could figure out how they lived without it until much later in life. Everything went into a big plastic pale thing by the sink. Scraps, peeling, shells, tea bags, etc. However they didn't compost. They would just go chunk the entire thing in the yard and the peacocks, chickens and ducks had it taken care of in no time. They also had dogs so they got the meat scraps. Now that I have a house (and compost), virtually nothing goes down my drain.

Now I wonder why they don't have an automatic ice maker! Seriously, their both past 75 and they're bending over cracking those silly ice trays, or buying bagged ice.

Sink strainers are amazing things.

I'm on my own septic and no kitchen wastes go down the drains. When the sink drains poorly,I dump the contents of the strainer into my kitchen waste compost container in the kitchen.

The strainer get's all of the things that the scrapping and soaking don't and garbage disposals are not needed.

Commercial cafeterias and restaurants have just this sort of beast. It chops up the food waste like a disposer but then filters it out rather than washing large quantities down the drain. The strainer can be removed for emptying.

I concur with the ice cream bucket. The only thing that would really need to be chopped up like that is bones, which aren't that helpful in compost anyway.

I agree this is an invention just waiting to happen altho I'm not holding my breath. IMO it would be a major process to change codes so it would be allowed. When we built here on a large acreage a few years ago I inquired about having the house plumbed so the grey water could be used for flower beds and, of course, the answer was "against code". The other thing that's "against code" here is having an outdoor privy if one has indoor plumbing! I don't really understand that "either/or" connection but I really wanted that little house out beyond my garden so I didn't have to remove my boots when I wanted to "go". Of course, this long after we could probably build one and no one would ever be the wiser.

About the kitchen disposal, I've never wanted one but use a gallon ice cream container and dump the contents in the compost bin once a day after our evening meal. No odors, just a short walk, and good compost for the garden. If everyone did that, just think what our world would be like.

Yep, bucket is best, if you dont put it down the disposal, you neednt worry about getting it OUT of the disposal.

Luckygal, sure you could build that outhouse! It's called a garden shed. As far as anyone knows. :-]

I have wished for the same thing....thoughts of centrifuges with plumbing....It all does get quite complicated...

I think Mark made a good point when he said we are all lazy (or at least many of us...myself included). In addition, when it has been a while since the "coffee can" was dumped...opening it up to add more scraps is far from pleasant.

What about a "garbage shute" on the wall next to the kitchen sink. It would be a lot simpler and would at least be a way to have the majority of the smell be outside? I'm sure there would be some details to iron out....like sealed cap on the inside, and a gravity flap at the outside outlet. Anyone know if such a thing exists?

I saw in some magazine years back someone built a diverter that sent the muck from the disposal to a barrel in the basement.(which she would pour into compost every couple of days).

Al,

Buy a Vitamix!

Scrape, chop, dump. Bypass the disposal.

Some areas of this country already have codes that allow the use of grey water, which water from your kitchen sink and garbage disposal would be, as irrigation water, and there are people that know how to make diverters for that, reroute the grey water, water from your shower, lavatory, kitchen sink, washer, from that which would be black water, the waste from a toilet, so the grey water could go out into the soil.
Since it is not terribly easy to do and requires changing much of your plumbing the simplest thing is to just not use the garbage disposal and put that waste in a bucket to do into a compost bin.

Hang on everyone! I'm working on the patent now. There are few things I have worked out. The compostables will only be diverted while you have your foot on the pedal to engage the diverter. The diverter will allow normal operation when not engaged and all will be BEFORE the P-trap so codes would not be an issue. Lastly, the collection pail can be hooked up to the garden hose before it's opened up in the compost heap for burial. You can empty it withoiut getting your hands dirty. Minimal liquid. No smell.

Nobody mentioned that the scraps ground up in a disposal would presumably compost faster. Maybe much faster for items like grapefruit skins.

If you want your scraps chopped/diced/minced for faster decomposition, the fastest, cheapest method might be to put them through a blender or food processor.

We need household-size anaerobic digesters. Many homes in developing countries have them. ADs produce methane, which of course is used for cooking, heating, & electrical generation. Big business does not want us to know about this in the U.S.

- Always a Conspiracy :]

It is not cheaper,but to answer your question.
You will need a spare sink mounted on a cabinet with a spare disposal, but no drain line. Instead of a drain line you need a 5 gallon bucket, to caught the grind up food. You will have to have a plug to run this outfit.
It would be cheaper to buy a chipper or leaf shredder, which you could...... also shred leaves with!
But that is what you ask for, so there it is.
Good Luck & yes, I thought of the same thing & went with the shredder instead.

Hey hup,
You live in NY, so I assume you might have a basement. I live in TX and have a house built on pier and beam. I keep my compost pile underneath my house, directly under the kitchen. I can easily access the 3" pvc drain line coming from the kitchen sink. If you put a T fitting on the drain line, with either a manual or electric pvc ball valve below the T, you could easily direct your chopped compost directly into your pile. You could even put a sensor on the end, so that after the waste is dumped on the pile, a layer of carbons (I use shredded cardboard) is layered on top. No smell, no hassle, easy as pie. Note: electric ball valves are VERY expensive... As for code; who knows and who cares...chances are it will never be an issue. If it becomes one, play dumb and smile :)

My disposer died about 5 years ago. I only replaced it when I remodeled for resale value.
Small decorative pot on the counter for immediate use, emptied into about a gallon sized and emptied about every other day. Oh yeah, I spend about 30 seconds with a good sharp knife when I'm cooking to make those pieces smaller! Nancy

Inked, did you notice the original post was from 2008? Nothing wrong with reviving a thread but the original poster may not be around anymore.

I chop veggie waste a bit and it does just fine in the compost pile. To each his own, but it seems like a lot of trouble to set up a whole disposer just for food waste.

Like Bill and Kim, I also have a small tupperware in my kitchen sink where all food wastes which I eventually throw at the small compost pit I dug at my backyard. Organic fertilizer I got working for my tomatoes.

I see back in '08 "Dr.Doorlock" said (perhaps facetiously) that he was working on a patent for this. I wonder if he ever did it? I can't find contact info for him to ask. I think it's a great idea!

Another option that may or may not have been discussed in this thread (I didn't reread the whole thing) is to have an old sink with a disposer mounted in a wood frame outdoors. Put a bucket under it and run stuff through.

I still think the shredding is unnecessary, and if you have volume big enough to want to compost it fast you are probably a commercial operation (restaurant etc.) anyway and you can install a commercial one with a removable strainer.

Nothing wrong with the idea for the device, more power to ya, it's just my 2 cents and YMMV.

An extra sink to shred scraps for a household pile might be excessive, but considering the commercial trend towards all things 'green', I think a separate sink/shredder is a great, but simple and inexpensive idea, to speed up the process for mass quantities of scraps for new, or adaptable, restraunteurs (or grocery stores, school cafeterias, etc) that have space to compost. Onsite herb and vegetable gardens are taking off with restaurants even in my not-trendy area, so I imagine onsite composting (with excellent odor management) won't be far behind.

And since this thread started in 2008, a lot of local codes are being updated to accommodate more 'creative' (traditional) ways of managing liquid and solid waste.

Old thread, but still interesting.

Keep in mind that the waste from the kitchen sink, and the disposer, would be considered gray water and some places are now encouraging the recycling of that gray and using that to water your garden.
Running the "waste" food through a garbage disposal is generally a waste of energy.

This seems like an elegant solution:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf27WBJ2sNQ

This is a great setup if you have the space and are fairly handy. I don't really buy the 'compost in 3-6 days' claim, but it's a minor point.

All you need to do is not put it in the disposal. What I do to my kitchen scraps is run them thru my hamilton beach big mouth juicer which does an excellent job. I save the pulp in a canister for my red wiggler worm bin. In a few days its ready to feed them when they need it.

Ah yes I was going to mention the blender idea if I didn't see it in the thread, but here it is at the end mentioned by hummersteve (and sorry if I missed someone else's comment earlier in the thread).

I haven't seen the end result of how fine a garbage disposal turns scraps into, but a blender can certain liquefy scraps and thus make it easier to compost or even add into a worm bin, as well as for trenching (thought admittedly, for some of those methods, you don't need to liquify).

Another thing I like to do is that before the scraps go into the scrap bowl, I will also cut it up even more into smaller pieces.

I do a similar thing with scraps from the yard. I keep a scissor handy for my yard work, and when I get long pieces of scrap, I cut them into smaller pieces before tossing them into the compost bin.

Grey water is a great idea. Our water is so hard we bought a whole house soft water system. We can't water plants with it. We are on septic, and I worry that the septic field will be filled with salt...... Can't win!

I just keep my garbage in a plastic bag in a bowl on the sink and dump it in the compost when it's full. No room under the sink.

I did see a small add for just what you were asking for it was a in line basket that would catch solids out of the sewer line after the disposal and then pulled a drawer out the side of this catchment and store it in the bucket under the sink or run it out to you compote or compost pile I personally prefer to use a rotory compost tumbler so it is a sealed system and so I need not worry about meats the add was in Mother Earth News Magazine I will look up issue and pg. # and post it here or give it to people who email me and mention this forum

When the OP said he was working on a patent, he said the diversion would be installed 'before the P-trap so codes would not be an issue." I don't know for sure but I think if I asked a local building inspector about that, he'd say you can't run drains anywhere but the sewer. Not to be a wet blanket, and I'm all for changing those codes for graywater. Of course if you do it yourself in an existing home, the inspector never sees it. I may do something like this myself. On new construction though, verify what's allowed before building it and taking the chance of having it rejected.

Since this is such an old thread anyway.......

I have a lifestyle block, with my compost and garden both at a lower head than my kitchen sink. I am planning on sending my insinkerator waste (which is on the smaller side of a double sink) and associated grey water (slurry) directly onto the compost heap. The food waste will fall onto the compost and then the water will drain from the bottom of the heap and be directed straight onto my garden.

Other than local code issues (which I can easily circumvent) I can't think of any other pitfalls, and keen to hear anybody's views on this.

(Before you comment about the difficulty of setting this up not being worth the effort etc etc, please note that I do not want to walk my scraps to the compost heap everyday and looking for a lazy system..... I am more than happy spending the effort to set it for the long term returns.....)

Depending upon the volume of water, your compost can easily become too wet. Compost should be damp, not soaked, and if it's too wet chronically, the water excludes air, and the pile becomes anaerobic which is not a good idea.

Have you considered a 5-gal bucket near the back door, which you can take to the compost bin once in awhile? Or, if you have an upper story deck, put a compost pile or bin below it and drop your kitchen waste into it without having to go downstairs. :-]

OMGoodness! Just throw it in a pail with a top and take it out to the compost bin or divert it to compost pail or bin...whats the big deal????? I have had no problem at all feeding hungry red worms on very wet chopped up scraps. I built my own copper extra long sink that has a cutting board and strainer, place for drying dishes etc....a truely functional sink. I have one large sink with 2 drains. I do most of my produce prep right there at the sink. Ultimately all the scraps go through the garbage disposal that I use as an under sink blender and this makes it easier for the worms and everything else to break it down.

Wow Kathleen, we'd love to see a pic of your copper sink! Sounds fabulous.

Sometimes people do come up with solutions looking for problems, or what might be called over-engineering. Just means there are smart people around thinking up stuff, which is not a bad problem for the human race to have. :-D

I use a gallon stainless compost bucket made by Epica (you can buy them on Amazon). It's got a pretty good filter in it and doesn't stink at all. We put all compostables in there. I used to have a ceramic Norpro, which also did an excellent job of not stinking, but I craked the lid on our granite counter top. In either case, just throwing stuff in the bucket is probably the way to go. Our family of 4 only needs to empty it to the compost pile a couple times a week. The only issue I have now is that I probably need to get a second pail because I have a vermicompost bin inside and a compost pile out, and there are some things that can't go to the worms.

A number of years ago, I was in charge of renovating a 1900 heritage house (5,400sq ft) into 11 (now 12) large gorgeous rooms for affordable housing, for low income wage earners. The plumbing was all redone so it gave the opportunity to add things for the future, like plumbing for an extra sink/garburator combo for compost. People are pretty good about taking it out to the pile, but now there is a worm farm on the north side of the wrap-around deck, off the kitchen and that will work way better if the compost is ground up. My thoughts about how to use the garburator has resurfaced and I came across this thread. After reading, I think the best idea for this house is something like the five gallon bucket or drawer (as in Mother Earth News mentioned earlier) under the sink, with a couple of screens so that the compost can be saved and put in the worm bin right away and the left over liquid can be forwarded to the septic, or somewhere else downhill from the house (separate drain line is in place). The sink is in an anti room outside the kitchen but close. Later we can use recycled water for the garburator, as the bones for a system using recycled water for toilet flushing was put in place too. The water to the sink will be injected like a toilet from a camper so that when it is recycled water there is no chance that anyone would drink it. HMMM, maybe just use a toilet from a camper, bigger orifice, maybe use less water, getting compost into the garburator? I think that something like this would make it easier for 12 people to deal with compost, then running it through a food processor for the worms.
I watched a documentary the other day that stated that worm castings are 6 times more potent than compost and no crows, rats, dogs and hopefully no more compost in the garbage. There is already a plastic container in one of the kitchen freezers for meat scraps. I drop if off the dock into the 'chuck' as a frozen block, which sinks right away and the crabs love it!!
Thanks for all the ideas !!!! It brought me to the exact solution I was looking for.

I would love to hear more about your project. It's nice to hear about people like you DOING things like this. When some speak of efforts not being worthwhile it's because they have water any time they turn the tap and food to waste! Hopefully more schools will turn to these ideas and scale them up, leading to more use. P.S have you looked into Soldier flies? Adults have no mouth...but apparently are composting turbines. Good luck!

I have and use a wire screen basket on my sink. solids collect in it, and are dumped unto my compost bucket manually.

Providence and not machinery finishes those solids into garden soil.

I was ready to say the same thing, but if the volume is relatively high, it does take time for the system (worms or compost) to digest food scrap in larger pieces. The reason some commercial food scrap processing operations use pulverizers is to increase speed and throughput. So this might be worthwhile if you don't have the space to compost it all at a reasonable pace. Just don't forget that nature can do it without help given the time.

This is what youre looking for :) Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15JRhlaU4K8

That just seems so complicated. It attaches to your existing disposer so: Grind food waste in an electric disposer while soaking it with water, use another electric device to extract and squeeze the waste dry, discarding the water (along with some of the finely ground and/or soluble goodies) and then compost it?

Whereas it's so very simple to just put food waste into the compost.

http://www.eijkhout.net/lead_follow/index.html 

These guys have come up with an inexpensive way to use the disposal and also compost

• www.digitaltrends.com

• › Smart Home

• Try this link instead.

Just a home page for Digital Trends dot com. Was there a specific article you were looking at?

Wow. Many comments. Most seem to revert to Grandma’s bucket technology.

We (ok, I) am lazy. Thus I installed a disposal in my kitchen. Since I have a septic system I purchased the Insinkerator model which injects liquid to promote bio breakdown. it has worked great for ten years.

So, the idea of composting what is now going into septic has tickled my mind for years. Since the drain from kitchen is separate I thought of just diverting it to a composting bin downhill. The dishwasher effluents stopped me. But the suggestion of a simple bypass valve by dr.doorlock solves that. When bypass is open it runs the disposal onto compost. Redirect bypass and all other liquid (including dishwasher) goes to septic.

the grindings from Insinkerator (which, by the way claim to be smaller than standard models) along with enzyme septic assist decompose faster than full peelings. And, it fits my lazy bones to a tee!