How To Throw Away Cooking Oil & Grease

Everyone loves eating delicious food for the holidays, but when it is all over what do you do with all of the cooking oil and grease left behind?

Cooking oil and grease can cause a lot of household damage if not properly disposed of. Let’s take a look at how you can properly dispose of cooking oil and grease.

What To Avoid

1. Pouring Oil or Grease Down the Drain

One of the worst things that you can do with old oil or cooking grease is pouring it down the drain. When you pour oil down the drain, it can cause significant clogs that require extensive plumbing work.

All though oil and grease are liquid when they are hot, when the cool, they turn into a thick paste-like material. This can build up in your plumbing and cause major clogs as less and less liquid is allowed to flow through your pipes.

What if grease accidentally ends up in the drain?

It is almost inevitable that some grease will end up in your drain especially during the holidays when other might be helping with the pots and dishes.

If grease does get down your drain, it is best to use a drain cleaner that degreases.

2. Throw Oil or Grease Outside or Composting

Throwing your oil or grease outside may seem easy, but it can cause problems with wildlife and eventually make its way into drains and sewage lines.

If you have a compost pile, it could be tempting to throw your old grease there, but it is something that you want to avoid. If you throw grease or oil in your compost pile, it can cause foul smells and can cause airflow problems that will ruin your compost.

How To Throw Away Your Cooking Oil or Grease

Throwing away your old cooking oil is pretty simple, you want to put it in your trash can. But before you put it in your trash, you will want to do a couple of things.

While your oil or grease is still liquid, you want to pour it into a sealable jar. After you have filled the jar, put the jar inside of ziplock bag and then in the trash.

You will want to use paper towels to scrape up any leftover grease in your pans to make sure it doesn’t go down your drain. Even small amounts can build up over time and cause issues.

Recycling Your Oil & Grease

While you can’t reuse oil forever, you can reuse oil a few times to help reduce how much you are using. By using a filter to catch any bigger particles, you can strain your used oil into a jar and store it for later use.

Conclusion

Throwing away your cooking grease or oil into your sink is one of the worst things that you can do for your plumbing. It can cause severe blockages and could lead to repairs that could cost you thousands of dollars. Even though it may seem like a simple solution, it is something you want to avoid.

To properly dispose of your old oil or grease, find an old jar with a lid and designate it as your grease jar. Once it has filled up, place it in a Ziploc bag and throw it away in your dumpster.