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Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
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organic garbage disposal
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.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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woody with a view
PITA Nomad
Posts: 15939
Registered: 11-8-2004
Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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Mood: Everchangin'
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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.
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gnukid
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4411
Registered: 7-2-2006
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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.
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bajajudy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6886
Registered: 10-4-2004
Location: San Jose del Cabo,BCS
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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.
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Eli
Super Nomad
Posts: 1471
Registered: 8-26-2003
Location: L.B. Baja Sur
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Mood: Some times Observing, sometimes Oblivious.
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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?
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CortezBlue
Super Nomad
Posts: 2213
Registered: 11-14-2006
Location: Fenix/San Phelipe
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I have a dog, it seems to work on many items
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13197
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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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 !
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Bob and Susan
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8813
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
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Mood: Full Time Residents
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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...
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bajajudy
Elite Nomad
Posts: 6886
Registered: 10-4-2004
Location: San Jose del Cabo,BCS
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| 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
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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.
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13197
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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composting is ridiculously easy. I learned a lot today. Pics and info manana.
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Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
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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.
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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oladulce
Super Nomad
Posts: 1625
Registered: 5-30-2005
Location: bcs
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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.
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BajaGringo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3922
Registered: 8-24-2006
Location: La Chorera
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Mood: Let's have a BBQ!
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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]
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BajaBlanca
Select Nomad
Posts: 13197
Registered: 10-28-2008
Location: La Bocana, BCS
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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.
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Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
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A blender.
I'd thought of this already then thought a garbage disposal would be easier and more efficient.
No?
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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Oso
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2637
Registered: 8-29-2003
Location: on da border
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Mood: wait and see
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Get a goat.
All my childhood I wanted to be older. Now I\'m older and this chitn sucks.
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Mulegena
Super Nomad
Posts: 2412
Registered: 11-7-2006
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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!
"Raise your words, not your voice. It's rain that grows flowers, not thunder." ~Rumi
"It's the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." ~ Aristotle
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shari
Select Nomad
Posts: 13048
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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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.
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Bob and Susan
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8813
Registered: 8-20-2003
Location: Mulege BCS on the BAY
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Mood: Full Time Residents
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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
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shari
Select Nomad
Posts: 13048
Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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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.
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