Local utilities officials are making a concerted effort this Thanksgiving to remind people not to pour cooking grease down the kitchen sink. Virginia Beach has a website devoted to reducing oil and grease in the sink. And it was Topic One during last week's edition of Hampton Roads Topics, my Sunday morning public affairs program on 92.9 The Wave, Star 1310, ESPN Radio 94.1 and 97.3 The Eagle. Katie Cullipher and Brianna Venner from HRGreen, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission's environmental program, came on the show to talk about the problem.
Venner said that when poured into drain pipes, cooking grease will cool and harden. The result could be a clog, either in your pipes or in the neighborhood sewer pipes. The EPA reports that cooking grease backups lead to thousands of sewer overflows in the United States every year. For a view of the end result, click here.
The best advice for getting rid of old grease: throw it away. Venner advises that grease can be poured into a jar and kept in the freezer. Once the grease hardens, throw the jar in the garbage.
For the more environmentally conscious, frying oil can be recycled. On her blog, Cullipher includes a list of fry oil recycling centers in Hampton Roads.
Grease is not the only problem for sink drains. Any fatty food, such as ice cream, butter, or salad dressing, can lead to a drain clog.
Links:
AskHRGreen.org
Virginia Beach FOG (fats, oils and grease) page.
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