You want your household to run smoothly, and keeping your kitchen drain or garbage disposal clean and functional is an important aspect of this. Many households think that vegan foods can’t hurt plumbing systems because they’re plant-based. Unfortunately, even natural ingredients can harm pipes and sinks, and while one time might not harm a sink drain, repeatedly putting these vegan foods down the drain can lead to costly damage. Knowing specific vegan foods and groups you should put down your drain helps you avoid clogging up your home’s pipes.
1- Starches
Oats, potato peels, pasta, and rice might seem harmless things to put down your disposal, but it can be quite the opposite. Their starchy composition expands when exposed to water; they physically expand and turn sticky. This is a recipe for clog formation for gluey substances that stick to pipe walls. If they don’t form serious clogs immediately, they can do so over time by trapping other debris. Scrape leftover starches into your compost or trash before you rinse your dishes. Excess pasta or rice water should be poured outside instead of your sink.
2- Grease and Oils
The drain is one part of a sink that’s very sensitive to cooking grease and oils that commonly happen when you prepare a vegan meal. Frying tofu can result in leftover grease, and many vegan recipes need coconut or olive oils. When warm, these substances are often in a liquid state, but they turn solid when they cool. They stick to pipe walls, forming clogs and emanating unpleasant odors. Let these cool before disposing of them in your regular trash.
3- Coffee Grounds
Even with plant-based creamers, your sink drain can have issues with coffee grounds. They’re prone to clumping together, and they don’t dissolve in water. In fact, they can mix with other debris to form cumbersome clogs. Composting them or sprinkling them in your yard as natural fertilizer might align with your vegan values, but you can also just put them in the trash instead of your drain.
4- Fibrous Veggies
Artichoke leaves, kale stems, asparagus, and celery are all tremendously healthy foods for your human body, but they’re just as difficult on kitchen drains and disposals. Fibrous veggies are susceptible to getting tangled in disposal blades or forming mesh-like barriers down in your pipes. Fibers are long and stringy, and they’re hard to break down. That helps them clean out your guts, but they can also get wrapped around plumbing parts, slowing down or stopping proper water flow. Compost them, or put them in the trash.
Things You Can Do
Installing a sink strainer, educating your household, and composting regularly are three steps you can take to keep vegan foods from going down your drain. If an accident does happen, you might plunge the drain, flush it with dish soap and hot water, or use a mixture of vinegar and baking soda. If DIY methods fail, contact a plumber for professional expertise and industry-appropriate equipment and techniques. Vegan diets, recipes, and foods appeal to many for health reasons or environmental concerns, but you don’t have to let them hurt your kitchen.
