They are only worth it to clean the very minor gunk that goes down the sink. Scrape your plates into the trash, and compost the actual kitchen waste. Don't put anything real or chunky down the sink, ever.

I think disposal are very useful. In addition to effectively disposing of soft things (nothing hard, no pits or bones etc) they force water through the drain pipe under a certain amount of pressure, which I think is good. If you fill your sink then run the disposal until the sink is empty, that's a decent flushing of the pipes.

However, they do need intervention from time to time. Internal breaker trip, panel break trip, disposal replacement, etc. If you have to call a repairperson every time (like, can't push a reset button) then that will be irritating and costly.

They also take up a ton of room undersink.

Still, I have disposals on both kitchen sinks.

Discouraged in some parts of CA, water usage and it costs more to process the stuff at a water treatment plant than a compost area.

CA, home to 40 million+ people

Yes, I think they are worth it. In fact, I'm putting one in my island prep sink in my new kitchen. We don't compost, although I might start now that we are no longer in a neighborhood with an HOA, but not until I retire, so a couple of years. Our trash/recycle company does not offer composting either.

Are you on a public sewer system or do you have a septic field? If septic, you will likely be required to get one that's designed for septic systems. InSinkErator makes one - InSinkErator Evolution Septic Guard (new model, old one was Evolution Septic Assist).

In our old house, we had the older septic model and in 17 years, we never had any problems with our septic system or pipes. It was still working when we sold the house in April 2025.

• We did not put down massive amounts of stuff (e.g., when peeling a lot of potatoes, the peels when into the trash, not in the GD & septic system)
• We always made sure to continue to run the water longer than was needed to grind - you can tell by the sound when the food is ground up and gone. This ensured everything cleared the pipes before turning off the water.
• We used the bio-charge.

If you're not on septic, then I recommend one that is 1 hp. (The septic only comes with 3/4hp)

Do NOT get the "Badger" - it's the "builder grade" version (for production builders & apartments) and isn't as good nor will it last as long as the Evolution line. If you go with a Waste King or other brand, also be sure to get 1hp & not the builder-grade line (i.e., don't get the cheapest they have).

If you have kids, you might look into the "Batch Feed" version. It only runs when the drain cover is on.

They are only worth it to clean the very minor gunk that goes down the sink. Scrape your plates into the trash, and compost the actual kitchen waste. Don't put anything real or chunky down the sink, ever.

And for that alone, I think they're worthwhile. It excuses you from cleaning the little gunky-gunk out of the sink.

They also take up a ton of room undersink.

True, and this is why it's smart to go with a single-bowl sink with a drain in one corner. This'll allow your disposal to be placed in one corner, leaving you the majority of the under-sink cabinet for storage.

Discouraged in some parts of CA, water usage and it costs more to process the stuff at a water treatment plant than a compost area.

Because some of those people will shove chicken bones, etc. down the disposal. If you're using it only for bits and crumbs, you won't have any trouble.

I think they are worth it. I have 2. One in our cleanup sink and one in our prep sink. We are on septic and have the disposal meant for septic. We do not put down bones or large amounts of vegetable peels. Stray peels and vegetable pieces end up going down on occasion. Bits and pieces of junk from hand washed items go down.

I was glad to get rid of ours. We use the flexible silicone sink strainers made by OXO; they make it easy to collect the gunk and pop it into the compost bucket.

RE: Septic

When we remodeled our Kitchen in our previous home in 2008, we were told by the County that we could only have a GD if it was designed for a septic system and the InSinkErator Septic Assist model was an example. I won't argue the merits of the bio-charge one way or the other - you may or may not be required to use a septic model. If on a septic, then I would check with your local municipality (County or Town/City).

YES! Worth it. I have had them in houses with septic and sewers. When we built I had them added to the main sink, prep sink and laundry sink. I skipped the outdoor kitchen sink and regret not doing one there.

No one has mentioned this, but definitely use an Air Switch to run the disposal.

Oh, right Chispa! I meant to mention it and got distracted. An "air switch" is used to put a push-button switch in the counter for turning the GD on & off. The two primary advantages to an air switch over a traditional toggle switch (regardless of where it's located):

#1 - There is no direct connection to the electrical system. The GD is turned on & off via a "puff of air". So, no worries about wet hands when using the GD.

#2 - The switch is usually next to the sink so you can use it without having to open cabinet doors or use a wall switch with wet hands. It's also one less item to breakup/disrupt a backsplash appearance.

Yes, it's another hole in your counter, but it's easy to wipe around b/c it's small and has a low profile - just wipe across (b/c there's no connection to electricity, no worries about getting shocked). IMO, it's definitely worth it!

Here's an example: https://www.insinkerator.com/en-us/shop/insinkerator/disposals-accessories/insinkerator-stdd (There are several designs to choose from.)

In my previous kitchen, I matched it to the faucet. Even though my faucet was Kohler and the air switch was InSinkErator, the brushed nickel finishes matched.

Not allowed in my NYC apartment and man oh man do I miss having one. There is a ton of stuff you can safely put down there. Egg shells, shrimp shells, rinds, all kinds of food matter. They can take on ice cubes, which are good for sharpening the blades. Sure, watch for stringy stuff. I never had a problem with mine in my previous homes.

I'm not big on composting. We have it for free in our apartment building, but very little municipal composting actually gets composted. Plus, it just creeps me out to have old food sitting around. It's also possible I have composting PTSD. My roommate after college put a bug container of worms and newspaper in our kitchen to compost our food matter. It freaked me the F out.

Vermicomposting is a great way to deal with kitchen scraps! Most people that have issues with composting have the C to N ratio off, with too much N. Composting junk mail and paper wrappers fixes that. 99% of all inks used these days are soy based, not heavy metal. It's perfectly fine to compost any printed matter.

I kind of like having one though I don't put all that much down there. That's probably why I never have problems with mine. I do like it for liquidy slop that's too thick for a regular drain and too runny for the trash. I don't have one at my home with septic - never knew there was a septic safe disposal - curious what would make it any better for the septic. It's easy enough to just compost that kind of thing in the woods and I flush the occasional runny slop down the toilet. In the city we can drop our household organics off for composting so we do that with the stuff that's too bulky for the disposal.

I always find it kind of interesting when people say they've never had a problem with their septic no matter how negligent they may be with maintaining it. You don't necessarily know if your septic system is malfunctioning and leaching waste into the soil and ground water.

If you live in the city, you can put quite a bit down there and grind it up really well. Nothing huge of course. No issues ever at our past homes. It's much pickier with a septic. We don't have one now because we moved to the country last summer and the house didn't come with one, but I think I would like one even with our septic. There is always little stuff that gets caught in my strainer that I then have to dump in the garbage multiple times per day or it gets gross. It's a first world problem type of hassle.

@Jane Lessac, a lot of people ask the same question in different ways. Are marble counters worth it? If you work with pastry a lot they definitely are. Are Sub Zero refrigerators worth it? If you plan on staying in your home forever and don’t want to have to keep replacing (or repairing) your fridge, they are.

Are disposals worth it? If you cook a lot, prep a lot, and use your kitchen for more than serving, they are. If you are in a life phase where you are mostly getting takeout or reheating frozen foods, you probably don’t need one now. If you are renovating your kitchen now, you might consider having electrical installed so that you can easily add one later. I would absolutely put in an InSinkErator, but that’s me. Good luck!

@3katz4me - why do you imply we're "negligent in maintaining" our septic? We are not. It's pumped every two years and inspected every year. I know we don't have issues.

You don't know that people don't maintain their septic systems, so don't make assumptions.

Absolutely worth it! And a big yes to an air switch.

@buehl - I don't imply that you don't maintain your septic. I imply that some people don't and I know they don't for a fact because they never have it pumped. I also lived on a lake that did testing and found effluent flowing off properties with septic systems into the lake. People thought their septic systems were working fine.

I think the usefulness of a garbage disposal depends on the kitchen user. Some people like them, some love them.. some have them and never use them. Some don't have them. I've had them in previous homes, replaced a couple.. and live in places without them. It would be pointless now, I'm in the boonies and compost everything. I use my scraps for the garden and it would be a waste (pun intended) to put it down the drain for the septic guy to clean out and get rid of.

Egg Shells stick to cast iron, then other things stick to egg shells.

I agree with 3katz - it is very much worth mentioning the possible issues with disposals and septic systems. Too many people move into a house who have never had a septic system before, and have no clue that it's not at all like being on a municipal sewer system. (Source for my knowledge? My mother worked in environmental health, spent years in septic system inspections and permitting. Oh, the stories I have...)

If you understand how to properly care for a septic system, and you're careful how you use the garbage disposal...it'll probably be fine. If both of those statements aren't true, good luck. :-)

And to further follow up on 3katz's very valid point - you may not have a clue your septic system has failed until you have a very sloppy smelly yard...which portends the intrusive and very expensive septic replacement experience you are about to have. It too cracks me up when people say they haven't pumped their system in decades and "it's fine!" Yep. Sure it is. It's fine, right up until is becomes very obvious that it isn't fine, and that point...have fun. Hope those years of not pumping it (or having it even looked at!) still feel like the right choice!

Insinkerator has lessened the quality of their top models. Whirlpool completed the purchase of Insinkerator at the end of 2022. Whirlpool, imo, has a history of lowering the quality and lifespan of their products to generate more sales. The Evolution Excel and the Bio version both have a 40oz stainless steel grind chamber and stainless steel grind components.They have a metal outer casing. These models had been around for decades. Now, Whirlpool has discontinued them. The new top models, including the Evolution Advanced, have stainless steel grind components and a composite chamber. The casing is plastic.

If you can find an Evolution Excel, buy it now.