quick question for US people: garbage disposals

[dichroic]

After my last entry, Maria asked if garbage disposals are universal in the US. I said that to my knowledge they are nearly so – I’ve lived in Philadelphia, Houston, Phoenix and now Portland and have cooked in a few other places, everywhere from tiny towns to big cities, small apartments to big houses, and only one shared house I lived in as a student didn’t have one. Marveen disagreed, saying that she’s rarely had one and doesn’t know anyone who does. (I think she’s somewhere in the PNW.)

What say the rest of you? What places you’ve lived have or have not had them?

Mirrored from Dichroic Reflections.

Comments

[melannen]

In my experience, I've found that you usually have them if you're on city water/sewer, rarely have them if you're on well water/septic tank. (I'm not sure if this is for technical reasons or if it's because houses on septic systems tend to be older/in more rural areas, but I think it's at least partly technical - you're supposed to be careful about what you put down the drains on a septic system, and a garbage disposal can be a bad idea. But then again, houses on septic systems are likely to be in areas where having backyard compost is easier, too, so when I've been in a place with a disposal it seems weird to put perfectly good kitchen waste down the drain.)

[wordweaverlynn]

I agree about the sewer/septic system dichotomy, except that only newer city houses or apartments have them, or else ones that have been modernized. Here in California many houses have them, because they're generally newer houses. Back east I only ever had one -- certainly not growing up, nor in the various apartments I rented before and after my marriage (usually in old hoses converted to apartments). Of the three houses my husband and I owned, only one had one. The other houses were in the country and had septic systems.

[aedifica]

I thought it depended on the age of the house and/or whether someone had cared enough about having one to add one. I've lived in two Midwestern states and now in New England, and I think I've had a garbage disposal in one apartment--but it didn't work well so we didn't use it. :-)

[bombasticat]

I have lived in California and Washington, and in my experience, garbage disposals were near-universal in the suburbs, but now that I live in Seattle, it has been several years since I've seen one (barring the one at my workplace that we are not, under any circumstances, to use). My family lives in Portland, OR and their kitchen doesn't have a garbage disposal. However, the places I have lived in in Seattle have ranged between 80-110 years old; perhaps if I knew people who lived in modern structures my sample would be different. The places I lived in the suburbs were all less than 20 years old.

Edit: Aedifica, sorry, wasn't meaning to respond to you, but the thread as a whole. Wrong reply button!

[aedifica]

That's fine, it also works as a reply to mine. :)

Anecdata

[oursin]

Somebody once told me, with what degree of accuracy I know not, that there were no garbage disposals in New York City because of the immense power of the Garbage Workers' Union there and it was actually contrary to some code.

[bronze_ribbons]

Most of the places I've lived have not had them. Quite possibly because most of my habitats were built before 1972. I don't think I actually encountered a disposal until I was 25 or 26.