If one of your first thoughts when the holidays arrive is, “Time to eat!”—you’re not alone. Many of our holiday celebrations are centered around big meals with family and friends. That means a lot of cooking and baking—gravy, pies, buttery rolls, deep fried turkeys, and so many other delicious treats. Unfortunately, all this cooking and baking requires and produces a lot of fat, oil, and grease (F.O.G). If F.O.G. finds its way to your pipes, it can build up over time and cause blockages and backups.
The good news is you can prevent your pipes from getting clogged with (F.O.G.) by learning how to identify and dispose of it properly:
Know your F.O.G.
Fats
Fats include things like butter, margarine, lard, dairy, and gravy.
Oil
Oil is liquid at room temperature. Examples include vegetable oil, peanut oil, olive oil, and canola oil.
Grease
Grease is solid at room temperature—think bacon grease, coconut oil, and fat that has been rendered from cooking meat
Dispose of F.O.G.
Fats
Wipe up fats with a paper napkin and toss the soiled napkin into the compost.
Oil
Let used cooking oil to cool, then pour into a sealable container to avoid spills. When the container is full, set it out for recycling.
SPU now offers free curbside collection of used cooking oil. Just follow these steps:
- Pour used oil into gallon-sized jugs.
- Seal and label the jugs with your name and address.
- Place the jugs next to the recycling cart.
You can set out a maximum of two 1-gallon jugs each collection day. Rancid oil that has not been used for cooking is also accepted for collection.
Grease
If there is a thin film of grease in the pan: Wipe or scrape cooled grease into the compost bin.
If there is a thick layer of grease in the pan: Can it, cool it, trash it!
- Pour cooled liquid grease into a can or container.
- Put a lid or cover on the can.
- Allow the grease to harden completely to reduce odors and spills—you can speed up this process by putting the container in the freezer.
- When the can is full, throw it in the garbage.
How-To Videos
Learn more by checking out our easy-to-follow videos on YouTube: