Save yourself any pain in the drain, and don’t pour fat, oil, and grease down your drains while you are cooking for the holidays (or anytime for that matter).
Hot grease is a liquid, but when it cools it solidifies and sticks to the interior of your pipes. This will cause blockages and clogged pipes in your home’s plumbing system. Clearing out those clogs can be expensive.
Fat, oil, and grease can also clog sewer lines and lead to sewer spills, which are bad for the environment (and your bathroom).
MYTH: Running hot water along with the fat, oil, and grease helps. FALSE!
Don't believe the myth that it's okay to pour grease down the drain as long as you run the water at the same time. No amount of hot water keeps grease from eventually congealing. This only gets the grease through part of the pipes in your home. Once it goes into the sewer and cools, it sticks to the walls of the pipes and creates an expensive and messy problem of sewer backups - for you, for your neighbors, and for the creeks and rivers in your neighborhood.
Here are more ways to "cease the grease" –
Wipe and/or scrape your dishes before washing them.
Remove excess oil from pots and pans with a paper towel and throw away the towel in a trash can.
Remove oil and grease from dishes, pans, fryers, and griddles. Cool first before you skim, scrape, or wipe off excess grease and put it into the trash.
Scrape food scraps from dishes into trash cans or garbage bags.
Use strainers in sink drains to collect food scraps and throw away the scraps in the trash.
Avoid using your garbage disposal.
Put used fat, oil, and grease in a foiled lined bag, such as a foiled coffee bag or a used soup or vegetable can. GUC has reusable lids, free of charge. Call 329-2199 if you'd like one for your kitchen.
Recycle Cooking Oil. If you generate large amounts of used cooking oil, like when you fry turkeys, you can reuse or recycle it.
Learn more about Cease the Grease at guc.com/wastewater/cease-grease.