So-rather than those greenhouse gases (GHGs) being released into the already overtaxed atmosphere, they are instead converted to electricity or biofuel, aka, clean energy. Sorta like in this simple (we wish!) flow chart from the EPA… Moreover, as Shore explains, when we send food scraps down the sink via our garbage disposals and to wastewater treatment plants like the ones in Cook County, Ill., it is broken down by bacteria in a process called anaerobic digestion, which allows us to capture the methane generated by decomposition of organic matter. Most wastewater facilities skim out food scraps and return these nutrient-rich biosolids to soil as fertilizer for agriculture production and public parks-like the much buzzed-about Maggie Daley Park in Chicago. The most intriguing of their eco-perks, however, is that disposals have some major hidden value. At the most basic level, they simply help lighten the load for emissions-spewing garbage trucks. So, what exactly is green about garbage disposals? Plenty. Let’s dig a little deeper in this garbage disposal vs trash investigation. So, as we embark on this mini garbage disposal life cycle analysis, we’ll do our best to keep it fun (but, in all honesty, it may not be as entertaining as these laugh-out-loud ridic cat GIFs-you’re welcome). In determining whether one thing is greener than another, Masanet reminds us that it’s not just energy and water usage or greenhouse gas emissions we must consider, but all of them together and more. Getting Down and Dirty With Disposal Science trash front? Here’s a brief DL on food waste disposals.
Need more convincing on the garbage disposal vs. Greenest ever: Reduce the amount of food we waste in the first place! Globally we waste about a third of our food every year.Green: Toss it in your compost bin for efficient composting.Light green: Running it through the garbage disposal, from which it then heads to the wastewater treatment plant.Not-so-green: Throwing it in a trashcan headed for the landfill.
#Better trash than professional#
What’s Greener than a Garbage Disposal?īased on a variety of research and their own professional experience, both Masanet and Shore agree that the hierarchy of green ways to dispose of food goes like this, from least green to most:
Though garbage disposals do have some clear benefits over trashcans, they are not the greenest way to dispose of your uneaten food, according to life cycle analysis expert Eric Masanet, PhD, of Northwestern University, and Debra Shore, commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. Garbage disposals, which have been heralded as the “next great tool for urban sustainability,” not only reduce the amount of diesel fuel and emissions associated with driving garbage trucks around town-but also carry this uneaten waste along to the wastewater treatment plant, where it can actually be used to produce resources like fertilizer and clean energy.īut let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
0 kommentar(er)
