Consequences of flushing food: Why your toilet isn't a garbage disposal
Do you flush food scraps down the toilet? While it may seem like a harmless solution, this behaviour can lead to severe consequences for the environment, your home, and society.
Although it's better to shop in a way that minimizes food waste, sometimes unwanted leftovers in the fridge are unavoidable. We then wonder how to dispose of them, especially regarding soup or other liquid foods.
Is it okay to pour soup down the toilet?
Is pouring soup down the toilet allowed? Unfortunately, this practice can lead to serious plumbing problems. Fats contained in soups stick to the walls of pipes, leading to clogs and costly repairs over time. Additionally, food scraps attract pests such as rats and cockroaches, which can carry diseases.
Additionally, flushing leftovers down the toilet negatively impacts the environment. When particles reach sewage treatment plants, they can disrupt the water purification process, leading to pollution of rivers and lakes.
How to properly dispose of soup leftovers?
Composting food scraps or using them to feed animals is a better solution than pouring soup down the toilet. Composting is a natural process that transforms scraps into valuable fertilizer for plants.
If you cannot compost, you can give leftovers to local farmers or charitable organizations if they are fit for consumption. Soup can also be poured into jars and preserved; other leftovers can be used as ingredients in new dishes or frozen.
If the soup has already gone wrong, it's best to strain it. You can pour the broth into the sewer, while meat, vegetables, etc., should be thrown into the mixed waste bin. If you have leftover cooked pasta, plain rice, or vegetables, you can discard them in biowaste.
