The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: Grog on August 02, 2015, 10:22:21 PM
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Hi everyone
I wonder how and what everyone do to keep cooking oil/fat waste out of the waste water. Most of the time I use paper towel or old newspaper to dry and absorb most of the fat (like salad dressing) from plates or pans and so on (those are the recommendations of our waste disposal people) but I wonder how people do it somewhere else, is there someone that manage to fill like a bottle or something and make biodiesel or recycle it separately? I'll never have enough fat/oil waste and it doesn't really spill so it is difficult to put in a bottle.
What I do know is that is really one of the most important pollution aspect to keep under control in a household. Problem is often fat doesn't reach the waste water cleaning plant, it sticks on sewage canalization and can cause huge problems to the infrastructure (after a while it starts transforming in sulfuric acid)
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If I've made anything with a significant amount of fat (eg. a roast dinner), I pour the fat into a little bowl and leave it to set in the fridge. Once it's set it goes into the freezer (in a bag) to keep it from smelling. The next time I'm putting my rubbish out, I grab whatever collection of fat I've got (along with bones, which I also freeze) and toss them in the rubbish along with everything else. I don't know if that really helps in relation to the really small amounts that are left on cooking utensils and plates though. I'd love to hear any good solutions for that!
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We just have our dogs "preclean" all dishes before they go into the dishwasher.
No oil, no foodwaste of any kind.
Is that "gross?" :)
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I keep a little jar on the sill above my sink that I scrape grease and oil from pans into. When it's full I toss it.
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You may be able to reuse some fats, particularly lard (waste cooking oils less so). Otherwise, use a food bag or container that you would be throwing out anyway to collect waste fats and chuck it out.
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I had tenants in a property recently who just poured it down the sink. It eventually blocked up the whole drain and required clearing out by a specialist company with a high pressure hose. At the least if putting down the sink, pour boiling water down after it so it doesn't solidify in the pipes.
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I let the greasy water cool off and the fats accumulate at the top (often solidified) for easier removal. I dump them in the trash and pour the water down the drain.
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Thanks for the suggestions, I didn't hink about freezing to keep large quantity without smelling. And good call about the floating properties of fat in fluid ;)
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I keep a little jar on the sill above my sink that I scrape grease and oil from pans into. When it's full I toss it.
+1