Garbage Disposals

Recently I was part of a group in the background of a text war going on between my adult granddaughter Izzy and her roommates. One roommate was complaining that the garbage disposal was broken because somebody put beans down it. I offered the perspective that beans should not break a disposal unless they were “human beans.” I did add gratuitously that garbage disposals do break when assaulted with animal bones, egg shells, celery and other fibrous vegetables. Others chimed in with examples of dangerous candidates for the disposal, like asparagus, banana peels, rhubarb, pits, and nuts. I remember watching my Dad grind corn husks down the disposal like he had an industrial grade disposal. Izzy had texted that beans should not have broken the disposal and read the response from the roommate that the lease prohibited the use of the garbage disposal altogether. This seemed ridiculous if true. Why have it then? Probably because transient student groups break them all the time. But my wife mentioned that we had replaced enough disposals to now only use them to capture residual matter in the process of washing dishes. Why toss stuff in the disposal and drain when food waste is biodegradable and accepted everywhere except the recycle bin? These days we have containers for garbage, yard waste, and compost. But on Thursday, while munching on celery topped with tuna fish, I suddenly wondered why am I putting celery down my personal digestive disposal system that is over 73 years old, cranky, and not easily replaced. It seems odd and illogical that I will eat celery and asparagus but not put them in the garbage disposal.