I do not compost. I did not have one before, but would never go without one now. I love having it. Without it, one always worries that a little scrap or two might get into the sink area and then clog the pipes.

Never had one. Maybe I don't know what I'm missing, but I've never wanted one either (I'll admit it, they intimidate me a little bit). We also compost everything we can and have a city green-bin program for food scraps and they take *everything*. So, what we can't compost goes in there. I think the green-bin trend is spreading but of course that's probably highly dependant on where you live. So my answer is yes, you can live without it, but I'm biased, I'll admit it :)

To be fair, if we didn't have the ability to dispose of all food scraps in some manner I'd probably consider one, especially if I lived in an area where garbage was regularly attacked by critters looking for food.

Hi, Sayde. It eally seems you've pretty much made your own argument for not having one. We're on a septic system and don't have one. The only reason I could think of for wanting it was to grind the little stuff that didn't go in the composter, but that's more theory than anything else. We just don't miss it.

Plus, more importantly, that's very valuable, close-in space under the sink that should be rescued from its back-alley/chemical dump status and outfitted for more valuable storage--the way the rest of the kitchen is. My assemblage of noxious chemicals goes on shelves in the cleaning/broom closet. Do you really want to give up space that could be used for drawers or other pull-outs to store your big stock pots/salad spinner/plastic storage containers/colanders/flower vases/??? for a noisy contraption you don't want and seldom use?

Don't have one. Never had one. Don't miss what I never had. :-)

I also have a septic system and while you can get a model for homes with septics it's just not for me. Never had one. They do take up space in the sink cabinet area and they do make noise. Now my daughter has one in her home and wouldn't be without it. When she bought her house it didn't have one and one of the first things she did was install a garbage disposal unit.

i put one in our last house (renovation) and i liked it well enough but it would clog frequently. it just seemed there was still a lot of things you couldn't put down there. we're living in a temporary house until our new home is finished and i don't have one now and don't miss it. my new kitchen will be pretty well outfitted and it WON'T have a disposal. we have septic but even if we didn't i still wouldn't do it again.

I moved from a single sink with a powerful disposal (put everything in it) to a double sink with the disposal just on one side. IÂm seriously tempted to put a disposal on the other side! IÂve lived my entire life with a GD and can not imagine living without one.

This question was asked two or three times in the last year.

Summary of those threads:
1. many are glad to have no disposal.
2. many are glad to have one.

I have one but I don't use it since we are on a septic system. I don't have one at my weekend lake place - not built with one due to septic. I've had them in the past and used them often with city sewer but have to say I really don't miss it. I keep one of those plastic grocery bags at hand when I'm preparing food and put everything in there. I try to keep compost-able stuff separate so I can compost it in the woods - no formal compost pile since I don't have a yard or garden. I just toss it into the woods to decompose naturally.

I didn't have a disposal for the first 13 years in my current home (but had them in my other homes) and hated cleaning all the scuzzy little scraps of food out of the drain. I had a disposal installed when I remodeled. I don't use it very often since I have a septic system, but I wouldn't be without it.

I have a fireclay sink and have had no problems with either the sink or the disposal in 6 years. Most of my neighbors already had disposals, even with their septic system. The only precaution I got from the plumber was not to put meat down the disposal, and from my neighbor - don't put oatmeal down the disposal!

I'm pretty much anti-disposal in favor of vermicomposting, but if you aren't going to keep good traps in your sink they are useful for any "oops" food that goes down the drain. If you have klutzy or careless people around, a garbage disposal might be worth the insurance even if you don't use it much.