What to do with your fats, oils, and grease from cooking?
Check out our free FOG tip guide and learn how you can maintain your sink clog-free!
Never pour fats, oils, or grease into your sink, even if you have a garbage disposal.
Pour cooking oil and grease into a sealable container with an absorbent such as paper garbage and discard with your other garbage. For small amounts, wipe it up in a paper towel and put in the compost.
Recycle large amounts of grease or cooking oil (including from deep fryers) at Bay Area grease recycling locations.
Use food strainers in kitchen sinks to catch food particles and scrape leftover food waste into the garbage or compost container instead of the garbage disposal.
Sewer backups require fast attention due to potential exposure to harmful bacteria. To report sewer problems in your neighborhood, call your local non-emergency police department hotline or your City’s Public Works Department.
Where are fats, oils and grease found?
These include animal and vegetable oils/fats that are used for cooking food. Some examples are cooking oil, butter, lard, shortening, margarine, gravy, sauces, meats, sour cream, and mayonnaise. While these give our food delicious flavor and texture, they can also cause havoc if not properly disposed of.
Why are fats, oils and grease a problem?
Fats, oils and grease may appear as a liquid when cooking because it has been heated. But when they are poured into our sinks, they cool down, harden and stick to the walls of our pipes. They can become so hard and sticky that cleaning pipes becomes extremely difficult, or worse, the backup of sewage caused by clogged drains can travel back up into your sink, bringing with it health risks. In extreme cases, it may require pipe replacement which can be very costly.
Watch the video created by the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities to learn how to dispose of FOG properly.