BajaNomad

organic garbage disposal

Mulegena - 6-19-2012 at 10:52 AM

Keeping your Baja home "green"

We're definitely planning to route all the grey water from the house directly outside onto the plants-- water from kitchen, showers and washing machine.

The question arises: what to do about the organic garbage-- the vegetable peelings, food scraps, egg shells...

My options so far:
1. Throw the wet garbage out with the regular trash.
Don't want to do this.

2. Compost:
A) Its been suggested to compost fresh food scraps daily by digging little holes and depositing them inside and covering. Many here do this successfully.
B) I have a revolving compost barrel that I could use.

3. Get an in-sink garbage disposal unit.
If I chose to get a garbage disposal, do you suppose I could then drain it out onto the plants? Its been said this would clog up the drain lines. I don't want to create any problems and have to re-do anything, so I'm asking ahead of time.

Thanks, guys.

woody with a view - 6-19-2012 at 11:09 AM

depending on the amounts of waste #2, A then B. the disposal would mince the waste and you's have bazillions of fruit flies wherever you drained the water to. if into barrels it would turn to muck real quick.

gnukid - 6-19-2012 at 12:05 PM

The kitchen scraps are highly valuable to your composting however one needs a place that is protected from animals.

You can use an enclosed composting bin such as a garbage can with an attached flip lid where kitchen scraps go, one can even fuel it with composting worms to speed up break down.

Periodically, once a week, the bin can be dumped into a larger external compost pile. We use an old tinaco or large garbage or with holes drilled throughout or you can use chicken wire or just make a pile. Layer wet and dry materials, they say layer brown and green, but just do the best you can to add whatever you have but not too much citrus peels. Good to add fish or chicken manure periodically.

Sometimes I pick up materials away from home if I don't have enough, such as chicken and goat manure, good dirt or anything to add with more diverse nutrients.

We also have buried organic materials daily, but its a lot of work and when the animals figure it out they come back daily.

bajajudy - 6-19-2012 at 12:44 PM

We compost and have for years.
The main rule is nothing but vegetables and fruit.
Por ejemplo....salad with dressing...no
rice or any grains.....no
anything animal......no
stuff that winds up
in the sink drain....no

We have lizards who eat from our compost but we have never had any other animal...no mice no rats etc. Our compost is on a screen so it gets air from the bottom.

Eli - 6-19-2012 at 01:03 PM

At home we have gray water lines running from bathroom sink, shower and laundry. They work great! We cancelled the seperate line from the kitchen sink as after a couple of years where the line ended the kitchen water produced a stinky and mucky putrid ick and there was concern about bacteria.
I would like to know if anyone else has gray water lines running from their kitchen sink and how this has worked for them?

CortezBlue - 6-19-2012 at 06:25 PM

I have a dog, it seems to work on many items:o

BajaBlanca - 6-19-2012 at 07:36 PM

we have 2 gray water systems - one for the shower water which goes into a huge tank and then I pump it out to water all my gazillion plants.

The kitchen water also is reused but I make sure to get rid of any food particles before I use the sink. then it water about 4 trees with holes built into the tubing. works really well and I have never noticed a lot of flies.

tomorrow is the workshop on how to deal with organic food waste - the idea is for everyone to have a compost at home eventually. so, as soon as I learn, I promise to pass the info on !

Bob and Susan - 6-19-2012 at 07:53 PM

i wouldnt run the kitchen sink waste into the garden...

there is always alot of grease and fat in that water

you'll have a greasy mud pit

the shower and washer would be fine...

bajajudy - 6-19-2012 at 08:00 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bob and Susan
i wouldnt run the kitchen sink waste into the garden...

there is always alot of grease and fat in that water

you'll have a greasy mud pit

'

I agree!
The shower is ok if you are the only ones using it but if you have a lot of guests, you might want to remind them not to pee pee in the shower.:lol:

BajaBlanca - 6-20-2012 at 08:10 PM

composting is ridiculously easy. I learned a lot today. Pics and info manana.

Mulegena - 6-20-2012 at 09:36 PM

Thanks so far, everybody, for your responses and experience.
Its been eye-opening and helped me to clarify things.

We're still going to go with direct drainage to plants of all grey water including kitchen sink. I won't install a garbage disposal and promise to be really careful about separating all organic matter out.

I've decided to compost the wet garbage. Its just deciding the specifics which will be tailored to my own household needs and requirements.

Really happy to see Blanca's report on WildCoast tomorrow.

oladulce - 6-21-2012 at 07:50 AM

We got a greywater recycling system from these guys and here's a page from their website that briefly highlights the do's and don'ts of greywater reuse. http://www.justwatersavers.com.au/pages/What-is-Greywater%3F...

Casa construction is finally to the stage where Husb should be installing the system next week so i don't have a report yet. (I'm very grateful to have a washing machine, but will be elated not to babysit the washer all day to dump each bucket of runoff on plants.)

My greywater "how-to" books are pretty emphatic about NO kitchen sink water, but the books are referring to greywater systems with storage tanks etc, not just direct drainage from the sink to your plants. I imagine they don't want you to contaminate your good greywater with the icky kitchen sink greywater.

Another tip: We have a couple of showers from our existing casita that drain in to separate gravel leach areas about 3ft underground. Plants near the underground outflow flourish but roots invade the system and shower drainage suffers. BigWooo had to excavate the area a few weeks ago and from his gagging expressions, it was not a pretty job.

BajaGringo - 6-21-2012 at 07:50 AM

We built our place with a divided drain system - gray and black. Another advantage to splitting the kitchen drains away from the toilet (black) drains is keeping the kitchen oil and grease out of the septic tank. We had a pumper come out a few weeks ago to check our septic tank and it had only a minimal amount of solids buildup after three years of constant use. You can put a filter on the pump out of your gray water tank and that seems to have worked for us so far.

On edit - we do take care to try and avoid running solids down the kitchen sink - no garbage disposal installed.

[Edited on 6-21-2012 by BajaGringo]

BajaBlanca - 6-21-2012 at 01:01 PM

one of the ladies who was at the workshop says she has been composting in Punta Abreojos for over 10 years. She is just amazingly talented, and one of her suggestions is to put absolutely all leftovers in - and what she does at the end of each day is pop them in a blender. she says this speeds up the process.

Mulegena - 6-21-2012 at 01:31 PM

A blender.

I'd thought of this already then thought a garbage disposal would be easier and more efficient.

No?

Oso - 6-21-2012 at 01:44 PM

Get a goat.

Mulegena - 6-21-2012 at 01:50 PM

Thought of a goat and chickens, too, but we don't have the land, darnit,
and I'm not keeping a goat on the rooftop!

shari - 6-21-2012 at 02:47 PM

our kitchen sink drains onto a little garden and yes little food bits etc go down it...the worms make quick work of all that and love it...I have tons of tomatoes and greens in there...carrots are healthy too.

I put all organic (fruit and veggie) waste except orange peels in a big coffee can with a lid which I empty every couple days by digging a hole in my compost "bed" beside my garden...put the stuff in, put sand over it and some ash (if I have it from burning cement bags) water it a bit and cover with a board and viola...fantastic soil from what used to be sand....I steal worms from the veggie garden bed and stick em in the compost bed every once in awhile...and spread the worms around in my flower beds too.

Bob and Susan - 6-21-2012 at 03:16 PM

its NOT the organic parts of the kitchen sink run-off...

it the OIL

everyone uses OIL and food use oil

the oil get in the soil and makes a stinky mucky mess

do the RIGHT thing...at least for your neighbors

shari - 6-21-2012 at 03:25 PM

good thing we dont have any neighbours!

most of the left over oil gets poured over the dog food not down the drain and I use a biodegradable dish soap...it really isnt stinky or mucky....but it drains well and the bed is on a slope down.

Bob and Susan - 6-21-2012 at 03:31 PM

when i saw you post i was going to say you dont have neighbors hahaha

but dumping oil is NOT organic garbage disposal which is the title of the thread

im dissapointed in mulegena still dumping oil from the kitchen sink after

dumping oil is not acting in the best interests of the earth

they should have taught this in her composting class

Mulegena - 6-21-2012 at 06:21 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Bob and Susan
when i saw you post i was going to say you dont have neighbors hahaha

but dumping oil is NOT organic garbage disposal which is the title of the thread

im dissapointed in mulegena still dumping oil from the kitchen sink after

dumping oil is not acting in the best interests of the earth

they should have taught this in her composting class
Did I say I was still dumping oil from the kitchen sink? Did I say I'd taken a composting class?

I'm building a house and exploring options on ways to create a good lifestyle and be a good neighbor and citizen. That's why I created this thread and have been politely asking questions and sharing information.

We're not talking 50-weight motor oil dumped down the drain or out onto the ground, either, which does need to be disposed of properly-- that's not what this thread is about. I believe that oil is organic if I recall my college chemistry, but I may be wrong. Down the drain into a septic system to leach out into the ground or whatever, I agree oil needs to be handled properly.

The issue of a bit of cooking oil, along with other issues of debris from household use is the jist of my inquiry.

Either way, you don't know my cooking habits or lifestyle. You have no reason to criticize me.

Bob and Susan - 6-22-2012 at 05:56 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Mulegena

We're still going to go with direct drainage to plants of all grey water including kitchen sink.


be aware im NOT "green"...i drive 25 miles to get one tank of water...i try but there are limitations to what we can do for the earth

im really sorry i upset you...but this quote says (to me at least) ...oil is going outside...everyone uses oil to cook

oil is oil
oil does not break down and is not good for the enviorment

actually i dont understand why you need to use grey water in town...

all the water you can use only costs about $10usa in mulege a month

adding water in your septic system is actually good for it
you should learn how a septic tanks work

actually the BEST thing you could do to be "green"
is buy a $500usa three stage PLASTIC septic tank and drop it in the ground with 200 feet of leach line

NOT cement...they ALL leak poisons into the ground

then grow plants on top of the leach line

the water... when it leaves a "correct" septic tank...
is pretty clean...but does contain nitrogen

plants love nitrogen...it makes them green

in the usa when you see "plants are watered with recycled water"...this water is treated

the grey water from your house can be routed to the second chamber to give the first "bad" chamber time to process the "loads"

building a "clean" septic system is the best thing you can do to try to be "green"

redmesa - 6-22-2012 at 07:04 AM

Here on Vancouver Island on our property we recycle or compost everything ...except---plastic wrap and styrofoam (some types). Once a month we take all our recyclables to the plant and all our food waste goes in a compost pile which is used for our bamboo. We do not eat meat and cook with olive oil and our compost pile works like a hot damn!

In Baja we try. We have grey water for the flower beds and the kitchen goes in a ground tank. The septic is a standard to local standards. Our veggies are composted with mesquite soil added. The lack of recyclable plastics, bottles, and cans is a big problem.

The water problems of Baja

Mulegena - 6-22-2012 at 09:02 AM

Yes, there is a municipal water line that serves every colonia in town, I believe. However, the problem lies in the lack of water that reaches the more remote colonias or those that are high up on the hillside. Those areas are served last, and if the homes closer into town use more than they probably should, the distant homes just don't get much water. Additionally, water is rationed and is not available on a daily basis but only a few days a week and a few hours within those days.

There's another problem:
The local standard of septic system is not designed nor equipped to handle a large load of water. The homes' lot sizes generally aren't large enough to afford a 200' leach line for their antiquated systems and can't be retrofitted. Additionally, more than one house may share one of these funky old tanks. They really should be used only for black water. That's just the way it is.

The townspeople are doing their best with a woefully inadequate system. I'm disturbed when I see leaking faucets or people washing their cars or using the municipal water to spray the dirt streets in front of their house to settle the dust a bit, but that's the way it is in this imperfect world.

Its ironic that Mulege is a true oasis in the desert. It has a source of fresh water, unlike most of pueblos in Baja. That water is not being utilized to any degree of efficiency.

There still exists a concrete aqueduct line on both sides of the river which used to divert the fresh water to the outlying colonias. My husband remembers this from his childhood. He also recalls his family drawing water from naturally occurring cisterns and using these resources in their homes for what was then rich personal gardens & orchards. He can easily point out the exact locations of these cisterns. They fell into disuse when the town brought waterlines to the outlying colonias; with their advent the lush vegetable gardens of my husband's family disappeared. Sad, but a reality here.

My husband and I are attempting to deal with this as best we can. We'd like to have a modest personal garden. Some of the trees that his grandparents planted are still alive and can be revived with proper care.

We personally use very, very little cooking oil, save and consume left-overs and moderate our water use. For instance, right now we're renting while we build. The landlord designed all our water to go into her septic. We have no garden and do no laundry here. I have one plant that I keep fresh with the condensation inside the refrigerator that I catch. I fill our freshwater holding tank from the landlord's tinaco. For the two of us our discretionary water use is about 15 to 20 gallons a day. I provide drinking for the animals from the drip that my hose makes while our tank is being filled every morning. If my car is dirty, I dust it off inside and out and give it a good 3-gallon wash if we're going someplace special. We buy 5-gallon drinking water and consume about 15 gallons per week.

This leads into a new thread that I'll start: the issue of water.

Bob and Susan - 6-22-2012 at 12:28 PM

actually you are wrong

the reason water is not on for the entire town is not because there is a small supply
but because there is not enough pressure from the 2 pumps that send it to the town

more wells... more pumps... would end that problem

education would assist too...teach the young

if you are building a new house you should install your own septic tank
a no brainer and part of "correct" building

and 200 feet of leach line is not really that much area
it doesnt have to be in a straight line

taking water from the neighbor is compounding the problem
you should open your own account and pay the city for your water like the rest of us

you are disturbed about leaking faucets...the solution is easy...meters at every house...pay for what you use

never use the river water ever...its poluted...the ONLY thing that saves the river is the tide...in and out

Mulegena - 6-22-2012 at 01:05 PM

I'm going to close this thread now, for Bob and Susan seem to be flaming me at every opportunity and misconstruing my words. I have no idea why. I will not be opening another thread about water.

I never said I was not paying for my own water "like everybody else". This is insulting! I do pay for the sparse and intermittent water I receive, every month $148 pesos to SAPA. Its a modest amount to pay but the quality and quantity/availability of it is the problem everyone here in town faces.

It is my neighbor, a family member, who is tapped into my existing septic system, not I into hers. Her house is on what used to be a large extensive family plot of homestead land. If it becomes a problem we shall deal with it as a family.

Bob and Susan have given adequate advice from which I've learned, but have consistently done so in an aggressive and adversarial manner which is definitely not appreciated.

To all others who have contributed to this thread in a constructive manner, I thank you.