The holiday season is here, and so is holiday cooking and lots of good food. The fats, oils, grease and food used to prepare your meals may contribute to clogging your sewer pipes if not disposed of properly.
Putting fats, oils, grease or food down the drain can have negative impacts on your pipes and sewer systems. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, close to half of sewer blockages are caused by fats, oils and grease. They solidify within the pipes blocking them and leading to sewer overflows and backups into homes and the community. Damages can be messy, expensive and timely to fix. Plus, sewer overflows are not only health hazards to you and your neighbors but to the environment as well.
Only soap and water should be going down your drains, everything else should go in the trash.
What should you do with fats, oils, grease? Instead of pouring them down the drain, Toho reminds you that you can pour your excess into a container, let it cool and throw it in the trash. The University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences also suggests the following disposal alternatives:
- Let them cool. Before disposing of them in the trash, let the fats, oils and grease cool.
- Soak it with a paper towel. Use paper towels to wipe off the leftover oil or sauce residue from pots and pans before washing.
- Reuse your oil. You can reuse cooking oil with a high smoking point, like canola, avocado and sesame oils. To reuse, let the oil cool completely and strain out unwanted debris. Then place the oil into a clean, sealable container. You can then keep the oil in a dark, cool place and reuse.
As we start the holiday season, Toho reminds you to protect your pipes and those of your community from backups by properly disposing of fats, oils, grease and food.
