Following these dos and don’ts will help you
and your neighbors avoid expensive sewer backups, plumbing
emergencies, and rate increases to cover sewer maintenance and
repairs, while helping protect water quality in your community.
Do
- Recycle used cooking oil or properly dispose of it by pouring
it into a sealable container and placing the sealed container in
the trash. To recycle large amounts, such as what’s left over
from a catfish fry or frying a turkey, contact a local recycler by
looking in the yellow pages under “Greases” or
“Rendering.” If you have a lot of oil to dispose of, use
clay cat litter. Just mix the litter, a little at a time, into the
oil. When all the oil has been absorbed, pour the cat litter into a
trash bag, seal the bag, then dispose of it in your regular
trash.
- Scrape food scraps into the trash, not the sink.
- Wipe pots, pans, and dishes with dry paper towels before
rinsing or washing them. Then throw away the paper towels.
- Place a catch basket or screen over the sink drain when rinsing
dishware, or when peeling or trimming food, to catch small scraps
that would otherwise be washed down the drain. Throw the scraps in
the trash.
- Rinse dishes and pans with cold water before putting them in
the dishwasher. Hot water melts the fats, oils, and grease (FOG)
off the dishes and into the sewer pipes. Later on in the sewer, the
hot water will cool and the FOG will clog the pipes.
Don’t
- Don’t use a garbage disposal or food grinder. Grinding
food up before rinsing it down the drain does not remove FOG; it
just makes the pieces smaller. Even non-greasy food scraps can plug
your home’s sewer lines. So don't put food of any kind down
the drain.
- Don’t pour cooking oil, pan drippings, bacon grease, salad
dressings, or sauces down the sink or toilet, or into street
gutters or storm drains.
- Don’t use cloth towels or rags to scrape plates or clean
greasy or oily dishware. When you wash them, the grease will end up
in the sewer.
- Don’t run water over dishes, pans, fryers, and griddles to
wash oil and grease down the drain.
Some cities that sponsor collections of hazardous household
waste accept used cooking oil. Check with your local contact to find out
if your community accepts cooking oil. If your community is not
listed, call your solid waste service to check.
