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In the US, the dishwasher discharge hose is often piped into the garbage disposal unit under the sink. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_disposal_unit http

In the US, the dishwasher discharge hose is often piped into the garbage disposal unit under the sink. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_disposal_unit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_disposal_unit Looks like those units are really uncommon in Europe.

eru 3y ago
Also uncommon in Asia and Australia.
- function_seven 3y ago
  Heh. When reading that Wikipedia article, they only referenced European (and UK) countries in their "Adoption and Bans" section. That kinda made me view the entire world as "The US or EU/UK", and—with that anchoring—I assumed you must live "in the other one". So, yeah. I guess those things are a quirk of the US only.
  - TheHappyOddish 3y ago
    Quite a lot of online commentary is framed as "US or EU", or sometimes "US, EU and Asia". There are tens of other countries out there with hundreds of millions of people.
mschuster91 3y ago
These are actually banned in most countries of Europe by laws and regulations because fatty foods lead to the buildup of fatbergs in pipes and anything that's not water and feces is prime rat food. I don't get why the USA don't ban these, but then complain about rat infestations at the same time. JFC.
- sneak 3y ago
  There aren't huge rat problems in the US, and having to clean out the sink drain filter multiple times per day is a disgusting waste of time. I split my time between Germany and the US and the lack of a garbage disposal in the kitchen sink is a constant annoyance. (It's nothing to do with fatty foods; the reasoning provided seems like a red herring.)
  - mschuster91 3y ago
    > There aren't huge rat problems in the US New York's rat problem is world-(in)famous, as is San Francisco's. > and having to clean out the sink drain filter multiple times per day is a disgusting waste of time. Yeah, if you're peeling onions and potatoes over the sink instead of a bio-waste container. Do it like Germans do (in fact, if you look up your community's Abfallsatzung you may be required to) and you won't need to clean that thing more often than once every few months.
    - sneak 3y ago
      The hundreds of millions of homes in the US not in NYC and SF also ~all have garbage disposals and no major rat problems. (NYC banned garbage disposals until the '90s when it was lifted, and its rat population predates that by over a century.). I don't ever peel anything over the sink, it's just the small particles of stuff from washing that fills up the filter. This isn't a "you're holding it wrong". I get the impression it's a similar objection to air conditioning: it's regarded as foreign, atypical, and unnecessary luxury, so plausible justifications about why it's bad are trotted out. One of my favorite parts of visiting asia is discovering what fun new things have been electrified and automated. It seems europeans tend to have the opposite culture, and regard using electricity as vaguely sinful.
      - eru 3y ago
        Here in Singapore those sink garbage macerator are not common, and I haven't seen them elsewhere in Asia so far. (I'm considering whether it would make sense for us to install one.) But in no country that I visited without those macerators do people clean their sinks multiple times a day. Are you sure you aren't 'holding it wrong'?
      - mschuster91 3y ago
        > I don't ever peel anything over the sink, it's just the small particles of stuff from washing that fills up the filter. That's still weird. Standard German kitchen sinks have a very coarse filter [1], it's almost impossible to clog these up with anything but potato and onion peel segments. [1] https://www.obi.de/edelstahlspuelen/pyramis-einbauspuele-ca-1-edelstahl/p/8200370 https://www.obi.de/edelstahlspuelen/pyramis-einbauspuele-ca-...

eru 3y ago

Also uncommon in Asia and Australia.

function_seven 3y ago
Heh. When reading that Wikipedia article, they only referenced European (and UK) countries in their "Adoption and Bans" section. That kinda made me view the entire world as "The US or EU/UK", and—with that anchoring—I assumed you must live "in the other one". So, yeah. I guess those things are a quirk of the US only.
- TheHappyOddish 3y ago
  Quite a lot of online commentary is framed as "US or EU", or sometimes "US, EU and Asia". There are tens of other countries out there with hundreds of millions of people.

mschuster91 3y ago

These are actually banned in most countries of Europe by laws and regulations because fatty foods lead to the buildup of fatbergs in pipes and anything that's not water and feces is prime rat food. I don't get why the USA don't ban these, but then complain about rat infestations at the same time. JFC.

sneak 3y ago
There aren't huge rat problems in the US, and having to clean out the sink drain filter multiple times per day is a disgusting waste of time. I split my time between Germany and the US and the lack of a garbage disposal in the kitchen sink is a constant annoyance. (It's nothing to do with fatty foods; the reasoning provided seems like a red herring.)
- mschuster91 3y ago
  > There aren't huge rat problems in the US New York's rat problem is world-(in)famous, as is San Francisco's. > and having to clean out the sink drain filter multiple times per day is a disgusting waste of time. Yeah, if you're peeling onions and potatoes over the sink instead of a bio-waste container. Do it like Germans do (in fact, if you look up your community's Abfallsatzung you may be required to) and you won't need to clean that thing more often than once every few months.
  - sneak 3y ago
    The hundreds of millions of homes in the US not in NYC and SF also ~all have garbage disposals and no major rat problems. (NYC banned garbage disposals until the '90s when it was lifted, and its rat population predates that by over a century.). I don't ever peel anything over the sink, it's just the small particles of stuff from washing that fills up the filter. This isn't a "you're holding it wrong". I get the impression it's a similar objection to air conditioning: it's regarded as foreign, atypical, and unnecessary luxury, so plausible justifications about why it's bad are trotted out. One of my favorite parts of visiting asia is discovering what fun new things have been electrified and automated. It seems europeans tend to have the opposite culture, and regard using electricity as vaguely sinful.
    - eru 3y ago
      Here in Singapore those sink garbage macerator are not common, and I haven't seen them elsewhere in Asia so far. (I'm considering whether it would make sense for us to install one.) But in no country that I visited without those macerators do people clean their sinks multiple times a day. Are you sure you aren't 'holding it wrong'?
    - mschuster91 3y ago
      > I don't ever peel anything over the sink, it's just the small particles of stuff from washing that fills up the filter. That's still weird. Standard German kitchen sinks have a very coarse filter [1], it's almost impossible to clog these up with anything but potato and onion peel segments. [1] https://www.obi.de/edelstahlspuelen/pyramis-einbauspuele-ca-1-edelstahl/p/8200370 https://www.obi.de/edelstahlspuelen/pyramis-einbauspuele-ca-...