Grinding the Garbage

There are a lot of great tips in Jodi Helmer's "The Green Year." Today, the tip happens to be not to throw waste into your garbage disposal.
When we built our house here, my husband refused to believe we could have either a dishwasher or a garbage disposal because of the septic system. Whether that is true or not, like many things here, I've learned that we really don't need a garbage disposal.
I don't have an official compost pile yet, but I throw potato peels and other natural waste into the woods, where it either breaks down naturally, or most likely, is eaten by the woodland critters.
For those of you in the burbs, Helmer says throwing waste into the garbage disposal uses lots of water and eventually takes that waste to streams and lakes where it kills fish and algae.
Helmer suggests using a compost pile, or putting it into your regular trash. Unlike most of our waste, natural peels etc. will eventually biodegrade.