Don’t throw that Turkey Grease Down the Drain

By Rita Cook    

Turkey season is gearing up and it’s time for families to consider not only how to cook the turkey, but even more important how to get rid of the turkey grease at the end of the day.  In cities around the metroplex they work hard to make sure residents know not to just throw that grease down the drain since, while in the past many folks have done that, it is a big environmental no-no these days.

Reports indicate too that plumbers are busier during the holidays than at any other time of year.  As well, when folks pour grease down the drain it can also mess up the entire neighborhood’s wastewater pipes causing the pipes to become clogged. “We all know oil and water do not mix,” says Helen Cantril Dulac who works at the Dallas Water Utilities, Pretreatment and Laboratory Services in the Grease Abatement Program.  “When you pour cooking oil and grease down the drain, the oil and grease tend to cling to your wastewater pipes. Over time, the oil and grease accumulate into a clog big enough to restrict wastewater flow.  When this happens in your home, your kitchen sink backs up and can result in expensive plumbing repairs.” ( see  Cease the Grease Video )

So if you aren’t supposed to pour the grease down the drain, what are you supposed to do with it then?      One idea from Plano’s Sustainability Communications Coordinator Melinda Haggerty is to dispose of the used turkey grease and other cooking oils by recycling into biodegradable renewable fuel.     “The Household Chemical Collection Program [in Plano] offers a convenient pick-up service for the collection of cooking oil to residents,” she explains.    

Always allow the grease to cool no matter what you do with it and then slowly mix the cooled oil with kitty litter until all the oil is absorbed.  The oil and kitty litter mix can then be safely placed in a garbage bag.  “Cooled cooking oil can also be filtered, frozen and reused,” Haggerty adds.   If you have a lot of turkey grease simply let it cool, put it in a large container and call for chemical collection.                                                                                                                    

In Dallas, residents can get rid of their turkey grease by dropping it off at one of the six drop off locations in the city listed below.   “[The oil] is collected by the Green Spot Market and Fuels and they are converting it into biodiesel,” says Dulac.  “We ask folks to allow the fry oil to cool and pour it back into the original container or any plastic container with a screw top lid and drop it off at one of the Sanitation Services Transfer Stations, the Dallas County Home Chemical Collection Center or the Green Spot Market and Fuels.”   
                                                  

For more information about the City of Plano’s Household Chemical Collection Program visit www.livegreeninplano.com or call (972) 769-4150. 

In Dallas visit http://ceasethegrease.info. 

Dallas Area Local Recycling Centers:
Fair Oaks Transfer Station
7677 Fair Oaks Ave
214-670-6126

Bachman Transfer Station
9500 Harry Hines Blvd
214-670-6161

Oak Cliff Transfer Station
4610 Westmoreland Rd
214-670-1927

McCommas Bluff Landfill
5100 Youngblood Rd
214-670-0977

Dallas County Home Chemical
Collection Center
11234 Plano Rd
214-553-1765

Green Spot Market & Fuels
702 N. Bucker Blvd.
214-319-7768

Rita Cook is an award winning journalist who writes or has written for the Dallas Morning News, Focus Daily News, Waxahachie Daily Light, Dreamscapes Travel Magazine, Porthole, Core Media, Fort Worth Star Telegram and many other publications in Los Angeles, Dallas and Chicago.  With five books published, her latest release is “A Brief History of Fort Worth” published by History Press.  You can contact her at rcook13@earthlink.net