Beware of the Grease Goblin!
The City of Katy is reminding residents to Don’t Pour your Grease Down the Drain. Help keep the city water ways and your pipes clean!
Fats, oils, and grease (FOG) come from meats, butters and margarine, lard, food scraps, sauces, salad dressings, dairy products, and cooking oil. When FOG goes down the drain, it hardens and causes sewer pipes to clog. This can lead to a sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) where raw sewage actually backs up into your home, lawn, neighborhood, and streets. Not only does this nasty mess cause health issues, it also can run into a nearby stream or river, which affects our drinking water. If your pipes become clogged from putting FOG down the drain, it can be a very expensive problem to fix.
How to Properly Dispose of Fats, Oils and Grease:
When you have finished cooking, collect liquid grease and oils in a sealable container that you can take to your local drop-off location to be recycled. Many of these locations will provide you with a new container you can use. For the grease that cannot be poured into the container, you should wipe pans clean with a paper towel and put it in the trash. Food scraps should also go in the trash. Scrape off excess food from pots, pans, and plates before rinsing them in the sink with cold water.
Dispose of large quantities of cooking oil by contacting your community environmental coordinator or your nearest household hazardous waste collection station to find out if used cooking oil is accepted.
Fort Bend County Recycling Center
1200 Blume Road Rosenberg, TX 77471
281-633-7581
Harris County Recycling Center
6900 Hahl Road, Houston TX 77040
346-286-4299
Waller County Recycling Center
32159 Morton Rd. Brookshire, Tx 77423
281-391-2009
Small amounts of grease, such as meat drippings, can be soaked up with a paper towel and thrown into the trash. If you have a larger amount of grease, let it cool, then pour or scrape the solidifying grease into a sturdy closed-lid container, like a coffee can, and dispose of it in the trash.
Here is a list of DO’S for disposing of fats, oils and grease, as well as an overall list of 12 Things you should NEVER put down the drain:
• Do put oil and grease in covered collection containers.
• Do scrape food scraps from dishes into trash cans and garbage bags and dispose of properly. Avoid using the garbage disposal.
• Do remove oil and grease from dishes, pans, fryers, and griddles. Cool first before you skim, scrape, or wipe off excess grease.
• Do NOT pour oil and grease down the drain.
• Do NOT put food scraps down the drain.
• Do NOT rinse off oil and grease with hot water.